Between the Times HIATUS
by GeeDeeny
Summary: A unpredictable Piece of Eden transports a certain Assassin to an important moment in the future. A modern day Assassin helps try to get him home and work out what happened EzioXOc M for language but that may change. No overly mushy stuff. I do not own AC
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! This is Deeny and this is my first fic. I'll keep this short so you can get on with reading. **

**Please be kind. Comment, review, be lovely, it's up to you! Enjoy. :) xx**

**DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.**

'Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!'

The second week of Grace Harvey's "vacation" had now taken a turn for the worst.

Sure the first week was fun and all what with it being Milan Fashion Week which she went to every year; but the second week found her in Florence attempting to relax with absolutely no avail. She had been casually walking around doing the whole tourist thing with her obnoxious looking camera with its huge lens; snapping pictures of anything of interest. Florence's gorgeous architecture, random people who walked passed her who she thought looked pretty fashionable, anything to get her creative juices flowing when she returned home to London at the end of the week. But of course, Grace being devoted to another cause as well as her work; also found herself taking pictures of every building that had some age to it. She thought it would be easy using her rather expensive camera's zoom function and humongous lens but was she wrong. Very wrong. Most of the buildings in Florence were old who was she kidding. Every year she ended up in Florence after Milan Fashion Week it was never spent relaxing or finding inspiration but prowling around taking pictures of things that when they were shown to the people at the London and Italian bureaus, meant absolutely nothing. She just wanted anything. A cryptic symbol on the side of a building that only she had found and could mean something, a sign of an ancient mechanism inside a church that would lead to some massive underground crypt that nobody had discovered, a hooded man slouched over in the corner of some dark dingy alleyway she had never seen anyone walk in to or out of.

_Wait a minute. _ Grace thought to herself. She blinked a few times before she focused her camera in to the alleyway she glided her lens past not ten seconds prior. She increased the zoom function a little bit more in the direction of the alleyway and scowled slightly at the LCD screen on her camera.

'Oh bugger it.' Grace mumbled to herself. Curiosity had got the better of her. She gently pressed the off button on her camera and let it hang around her neck from the lanyard she had attached to it. Keeping her senses alert, Grace slowly walked over to the alleyway that had caught her attention; being careful not to bump in to any locals or the odd tourist who was loitering about trying to decipher a map or a phrase to pronounce in their guidebook. Grace could only be happy at the fact that it wasn't all that busy today as it was still pretty early in the morning. Though in a few hours' time the square she was in would be filled with people. Glad at the surrounding calmness and the fact it meant nobody would really be watching her; she crept even closer to the dark alleyway. Taking a final quick glance around her to make sure she also had a clear escape route back to her hotel on the other side of the square; she made her way in to the darkness. The shade was providing instant relief from the growing heat of the sun out in the square.

Grace carefully stepped closer to the hooded man who was slouched against one of the alleyway walls. His arms were limp at his sides and his head was drooping slightly. The thought occurred to her that he could be one of many things. He could either be sleeping off a drunken night out, he could've been homeless and sought cover in the alleyway or the worst thought; he was dead. She noticed no blood pooling around him or seeping out through his clothing but she did not dismiss the final thought. So, ever cautiously she crept toward the man to take a closer look. Grace couldn't make much out of him in the darkness of the alleyway, but she instantly recognised the symbol on his rather old fashioned looking belt. Only after she realised that was then when she also realised that the man's clothing was also rather old fashioned. Now knowing he was one of her own order, Grace got even closer still and knelt down beside the slumping body. She steadied her right hand and reached out two fingers toward his neck to check for a pulse. Grace looked around quickly again to see if anyone was coming her way till suddenly she felt a sign of life. The man did have a pulse. Keeping her hand steady, Grace carefully moved her hand towards the man's hood which was obscuring most of his face. She gently pushed the fabric back to reveal a barely visible face because of the darkness. Frustrated from the lack of lighting she edged even closer still to try and figure out the man's features. He had a very strong, defined nose as well as a rather noticeable cupid's bow and a large prominent scar running down both his top and bottom lip on the right side. It was the scar that did it. Grace knew who he was as soon as she noticed the scar, which sent her in a slight panic. She fell backwards on to her backside and slowly edged away using her hands and feet as propulsion. Words were not coming out of her mouth but a series of stifled mumblings and stutters did instead. Grace clumsily staggered to her feet and looked around the alleyway and back in to the square slightly flustered. 'Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!' She mumbled to herself. Exasperated; Grace scrunched her eyes in sheer frustration and rubbed her face vigorously with both her hands trying to get herself in to a more Zen state of mind which was currently in overdrive.

_Okay okay, composure. Calm. Tranquil forest. Whale music. I haven't panicked like this in a long time just, ride it Grace you can do it. _Grace thought to herself. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before she put her serious head on. She needed to get this man to safety as quickly as possible especially if he really was who she thought he was. Other questioned filled her head trying to distract her from the matter at hand but she brushed those aside as they could wait till later. The problem at hand now was how she could get him back to her hotel. Sure enough it wasn't that far away but Grace could hardly call the emergency services for assistance. She furrowed her brows together as she started muttering obscenities again to herself. She crouched down next to the man and tried her best to bolster his weight on to her shoulders. She struggled slightly but managed to get him moderately upright. Grace's on the spot plan was to wander back out in to the square and ask some strong looking chap to help her. She'd make something else up as to why she had a strangely dressed, passed out man hung round her shoulders like a scarf. As Grace began staggering her way out to the square with the man hanging off her, she noticed he was stirring slightly. Her spirits had lifted slightly as he seemed to have regained some control in his legs as she had shuffled along. Grace launched him up a bit more on to her shoulders using her arms to keep him upright. She was stronger than most women but attempting to carry this man alone made her seriously reconsider that extra a few hours of weight training she did every week. She rolled her eyes at the thought as she soon found herself edging toward the square. She glanced around checking to see if it was safe and she set her pace evenly back toward the hotel she was staying at. One or two people she passed had stared at her with the man wrapped around her shoulders but it wasn't until a young coupled quickly shuffled over to her obviously noticing her slight distress.

'Please do you speak English?' Grace asked the couple. They both nodded at her.

'Can we help you at all?' The young man said as Grace nodded. He hurried round to the free side of the man taking some of his weight off Grace. She sighed heavily as he took some of the strain.

'Names Simon and that's my wife Jess. Can I ask what happened?" asked Grace's saviour. Grace looked over to Jess who had taken her husband's bag and had also kindly taken Grace's bag off her shoulder which was slipping down. Grace mouthed thanks to her. It was time for some more on the spot thinking.

'I was walking back with my man here from a re-enactment. We're almost back to our hotel and he goes and passes out on me!' Grace exclaimed. 'He has Narcolepsy he can black out at any moment.' Grace hoped she got that right. Simon and Jess nodded at her. 'I'm Grace by the way and this is…' She trailed off taking a second to think of a random Italian name to call "her man" so as not to give his real name away, just in case. Not many people would help total stranger but Grace couldn't help in being slightly cautious of everyone. She shook "her man" with her hand slightly.

'Hmm as you can see he's not exactly with us right now.' She faked a slight grin. 'This is Antonio.' She hoped they bought it. The couple smiled at her so she took that as a yes.

'Well let's get you where you need to be." Simon smiled. Grace nodded at him in reply. With the two of them it took no time at all in getting "Antonio" back to the hotel which was only five minutes' walk at the most. Grace directed Simon down the side of the hotel where there was another smaller entranceway which brought you right up to the elevators. Grace was thankful in having a hotel so close by.

"I should be able to take it from here." Grace said, conveniently as "Antonio" was now burbling on a bit, a tiny amount of drool escaping his lips. "See he'll be coming to shortly."

'Are you sure?' Jess asked. "It's no trouble at all.'

'I'm sure, but thanks for the offer you've done so much to help already.' Grace looked at Simon and Jess who both smiled at her.

'Well if you're ever near the Strozzi Palace hotel pop in and see us, just ask for Simon and Jess Cooper we could go get lunch sometime." Jess suggested. Grace heard the sincerity in her words, they weren't out for her or "Antonio." They were just a normal young couple on holiday. Grace smiled again.

"Yeah that sounds nice. Lunch is on me though I owe you for helping me." Grace said. 'I insist.'

The group soon parted after their goodbyes and after Jess had placed Grace's back on to her spare shoulder. Grace put her serious face back on as soon as they were out of sight. She reached in to her pocket to grab her room keycard as she shuffled in to the closest elevator and slammed her hand on the number nine button. A few seconds later the elevator made it's distinct pinging sound when it got to floor nine. Thankfully Grace's room was just a few doors away but she still kept her wits about her as she left the elevator in case anyone was around. Struggling with the partially comatose Assassin slumped over her shoulders she eventually made it to her room and slid the keycard through the lock; taking a few more glimpses down the hallway before the shuffled through the door. Grace threw the keycard on the floor as she glanced round her room. She had booked the only room left in the hotel that week which contained two queen sized beds, one of which however was full of clothes laid out neatly on the quilt; some where her own clothes some where her latest designs. Housekeeping had been in whilst she was out so her own bed was made perfectly. Grace lurched over to the bed free of clothes and tipped the Assassin on to it; the bouncy mattress taking his weight off her shoulders. Grace rubbed her eyes slightly out of exhaustion and groaned as she focussed on the white clothed body lying on her bed. She started fidgeting about with his clothing, taking of his boots, weapon belt, his hidden blade bracer then finally she managed to wrestle his white robe of him. Grace laid everything neatly on a chair opposite from the bed; she glanced back to the Assassin without his entire garb on him. Then it dawned on her, she was going to have to contact the London Bureau. That is if anyone was about and the chance of that happening was slim. Grace's back was on the floor near to her so she began to rummage through it for her phone. Eventually finding it she hammered in what seemed to be a bunch of random number before hitting dial and holding the phone to her ear. She paced up and down the room a bit smelling something strange. She made a face at the odour before lifting up her arm and sniffing. It was her, she stunk. Then her phone burst in to life.

'Frankie, yeah it's me. I need a secure line to London please.' Grace spoke in to the phone. 'Yeah, thanks man.' A minute later and Grace was about to throw her phone at the wall. She was developing a mammoth headache and what she was listening to on the phone was not exactly helping.

'A fucking answer machine? Seriously?' She asked herself as she listened to the voice asking her to leave a message for the people of the London Bureau. The beep sounded. Grace gave the answer machine a mouthful.

"It's Grace. Would someone please get back to me A.S.A.P. as I have a very important matter I wish to discuss? Something very weird has happened, I have an enormous headache because of it and now I'm going to take a quick shower because I smell like an arsehole. With haste please."

Grace angrily pressed the hang up button and threw her phone on the nearest surface. She went back to her bag, found some random painkillers she had in there and took a few of them; swilling them down with a gulp of water from the decanter that was on the table she threw her phone on. Grace just wanted the painkillers to kick in as soon as possible and have a shower to help calm her down a bit. She took one last look at the comatose Assassin on her bed and stormed in to the en-suite bathroom yanking the door shut behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi again everyone! It's Deeny. Thanks to all the people who read the first chapter there have been quite a few of you in such a short time! More Ezio to come I promise.

Please be kind. Comment, review, be lovely, it's up to you! Enjoy. :) xx

DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.

Grace wanted to do something to relieve this pressure she was under. She could have screamed, she could have trashed her hotel room. But those were both stupid ideas; she ended up in the shower with the warm water running over her now sore shoulders whilst repeatedly banging her head on the tiles. It was not such a good idea either on the account of the mountain sized headache she had. Grace stopped banging her head on the tiles and sighed heavily as she grabbed a bottle of shower gel she had hung on the metal shower pipes and began to soap herself up. She wanted her headache gone and that horrible smell of sweat and dirt she had accumulated in such a short time. Grace even lathered her hair up with the shower gel she was beyond caring what she was using she just wanted to relax. She stood in the shower a little while longer as she felt her headache begin to ease. The painkillers she took were starting to work. Satisfied she had calmed down she turned the shower off and stepped out, covering herself with a large towel she grabbed off a rail. Grace squeezed as much water as she could out of her hair over the bathroom sink before squeezing it again with a small hand towel. She glared at herself in the large bathroom mirror positioned over the sink. She frowned slightly and sighed as she did not like what she was looking at. All she wanted to do on this trip was what she did every year. Only this could ever happen to Grace. She had one of her orders most revered persons in the room next door and she was also waiting for orders from her own branch as to what to do with him.

_They're probably all out getting lunch. Bunch of useless bastards. _ Grace thought. She sighed again as she opened the cap on a tube of tinted moisturiser she had left on the counter top. Grace smeared it over her cheeks and forehead before blending it around her face then adding a few coats of mascara to her lashes. She was done. Though in reality she could not be bothered with anything else. Grace hated being high maintenance. She had her dark mid-length hair cut every two months in to an easy maintainable style; otherwise she ended up looking like a bag lady. Her pasty skin was almost see through from not having any colour in it and if she ever did go out in to the sun she would burn without any sun block on within a quarter hour. Her height didn't bother her that much seeing as a lot of girls she had noticed were somewhat shorter than her and she was only 5'4". She was however happy that she was moderately healthy by working out several times a week and not eating so much junk. But that was a thing that come with being an Assassin who had to be on top form. Grace thought she had a decent figure, it was average. Full of ugly, vicious looking scars but average. This is why she enjoyed her real job so much as a fashion designer she got to design and make clothes that fit real people and they always praised her for it. But as Grace looked at her reflection again she sighed ever deeper than before as her hair had started to dry frizzy as she never used any of her good shampoo or conditioner. She simply grabbed another bottle off her counter containing a leave-in conditioner, sprayed it haphazardly around her head and hoped for the best. All she could do in the meantime was get dressed, wait for the return phone call from her Bureau and wait for the Assassin to wake up. If he was going to wake that is. Grace secretly hoped he would wake soon if anything to have someone to chat too. She was getting sick of sighing to herself.

Grace stepped out of the bathroom pushing the door open with yet another sigh. The sighing soon stopped when she felt something cold and somewhat sharp pressed against her throat.

'Qual'è il tuo nome?' The voice said.

Grace rolled her eyes and groaned as she raised her hands up slowly almost in surrender. The one language she never really got round to learning much of was Italian. Sure she spent weeks at a time in the country but even then at most of the big events she went to, everybody spoke English. Even when she was on her own she knew just enough to get by on and as not to seem arrogant or make a complete fool of herself. Grace widened her eyes and gulped slightly as she felt the Assassin's short blade move a tiny amount against her neck, she eventually managed to stutter a few words out she dragged from the back of her racing mind.

'Parla… Parla Inglese?' Grace managed to splutter out as she took a sideways glance at the Assassin. She could now see his eyes wide open concentrating heavily on her, with his short blade held horizontally rigid at her neck. Her face twisted in confusion as she thought to herself if she said it correctly. The further thought occurred is that she was possibly about to die dripping wet with a towel wrapped round her. Very classy indeed.

'Yes.' The Assassin confirmed. He didn't move his blade though. Grace knew she had to convince him that she was not a threat and had no intention of killing him or escaping or doing something equally as stupid.

'My name is Grace, Grace Harvey. I'm a member of the order." She said to the Assassin as she relaxed her shoulders slightly. Grace slowly brought her right hand down and held her arm over the towel covering her breasts to stop it from falling off. She noticed the Assassin glancing down at her chest with a bit of a smirk on his face. _Ugh typical bloody man. _She thought. Grace slowly then lowered her left arm and reached out to the smirking Assassin.

'Here if you want proof that I'm one of you then take a look." She continued as she wiggled her fingers. The Assassin moved closer to her hand and looked at her ring finger. There was a large, wide silver ring adorning her slim finger. Cautiously he pulled the ring off revealing angry looking raised scarring encircling her finger right up to her knuckle.

'Now do you believe me?" Grace huffed. It took a few seconds before the Assassin relaxed and lowered his blade.

'I apologise for the misunderstanding." Said the Assassin as he bowed his head. "My name is…"

'Ezio Auditore da Firenze. I know." Grace stated matter or factly as she crossed her arms. Ezio's face had shifted from apologetic to confused.

'How do you, know my name?" He asked.

Grace ended up sighing again. She was sick and tired of sighing it was pretty much the only thing she had done since she woke that morning. She rubbed the bridge of nose as she shook her head.

'Well, I guess I can safely say that it's a long story. But the real question is how the hell did you get here? We're in 2012 Ezio.' Grace stated. Ezio's face had not changed after she said that. He still looked as confused as ever possibly even more so.

'2012?' He quizzed.

'Yes Ezio 2012. I'm grasping at straws here, but I think something may have happened to you that brought you here to this time. And judging by your expression you probably don't remember it.' Grace stated. Ezio nodded.

'All I can remember was I was chasing a courier messenger through Firenze." The Assassin began to pace with his short blade still in his hand. 'It was rumoured that he was delivering something of great importance to its recipient and I was to retrieve this item and interrogate the man."

'So, you caught him then?' Grace asked as she leant against the bathroom door jamb.

'That I did. I took his satchel and that is all I can remember." Ezio finished his story. Grace tapped a finger on her chin as she tried to think about what had happened to Ezio and what to do now in this situation. She shook her head as the thinking had got too much for her. Grace knew though that she needed to sort herself and Ezio out as quickly as possible, but even then it would have to wait till the London Bureau called her back. Which could be any time. She sighed again for what seemed like the millionth time that day. This was all getting beyond a joke. It was about time she got everything organised.

'Right then." Grace exclaimed as she clapped her hands together. 'I've got a plan for the time being, at least till the London Bureau get back to me. First of all I'm gonna get dressed then go out and buy you some clothes we can't have you wandering around in what I found you in.' Ezio opened his mouth to protest. What was wrong with his clothes exactly? He never got to interject though Grace was on a roll.

'Secondly, while I'm out I suggest you explore the room or go have a soak in the bath or something and relax.' Grace thought that suggesting Ezio have a bath and relax thing was quite funny. He had been nothing but calm and collected the whole time he had been awake. If anything she was the one that was panicking. To say Ezio had been thrust in to 2012 out of nowhere he appeared to be taking it all rather well. But he was from a completely different time plus he was one of the most prominent Assassin's in the order. Grace doubted he would show any panic considering the situation he was in. It didn't matter much anyway Grace was panicking enough for the both of them.

'Then I guess when I get back you can try on your new stuff and I can order us some dinner I dunno about you but I'm starving.' Grace exclaimed. 'How does that sound Ezio?' She beamed at him. She was quite proud of herself for coming up with all that in such a short amount of time.

'Va… bene.' Ezio answered after a slight pause. He wasn't quite sure of what she just said but he was not in a position to argue or debate. Though he did like the sound of a hot bath right now.

'Perfect.' Grace smiled. 'I'll be two minutes." She hurried over to the bed with all her clothes laid out on it and picked up some random items. Clean underwear, jeans and a t-shirt would do her for now so she rushed in to the bathroom with her clothes in one arm and the other holding up her towel; elbowing the bathroom door shut. She couldn't believe she had been held at sword-point, released then been stood chatting to the man who did it who she rescued in the first place for so long. All whilst in a towel. She shrugged off the thought and quickly got dressed; nearly putting her shirt on the wrong way round in the process. A quick glance in the mirror and she was ready, her hair was not as frizzy as she thought so she left it alone. It was nearly dry already and had set in to some mad looking waves but she was on a mission now. Grace flung the bathroom door open seeing Ezio still stood where he was before. _He could've sat down or something. _Grace thought, but he obviously didn't. He looked up at Grace as she motioned for him to come over. She spun around and turned her attention to the bathtub where she set the plug in and turned on the taps, the tub beginning to fill quickly from the powerful water pressure.

'Please feel free to use anything you like.' Grace said as she pointed to various bottles of soaps and creams she had laid out on the bathroom counter. 'I shant be out long, I've got a good idea of what clothes size you are. And your shoe size.' Grace continued as she looked down at Ezio's feet. She noticed his boots were rather snug fitting but looking at his feet she would probably put him round a European size 46. _Oh the perks of being a designer. _Grace thought. Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt something touch her hand. Ezio had taken her right hand in his and planted a quick kiss on it.

'Grazie il mio caro. I cannot thank you enough Grace for taking me in. And I apologise again for the misunderstanding earlier.' Said Ezio as he bowed his head. Grace was blushing slightly. Why weren't men like this nowadays?

'It's no problem at all." Grace stuttered and let out a smile. She glanced down at the bath tub and noticed the water was just over hallway so she reached over and spun the taps shut. 'I'll be about thirty minutes at the most. Please Ezio whatever you do, do not leave this room or answer the door. I'll knock three times before I come in just so you know it's me.' Ezio nodded in reply. _I guess he does know the situation he is in then. _Grace thought. She didn't think he'd be the type to take advice or orders like that. 'I can fill you in later on when I get back about what's going on, I'm sure you have a lot of questions." Grace said as she turned to leave. What to tell him though cropped up in her mind. If he did by some chance end up back in his own time, would his being here in 2012 effect anything?

And with that, Grace left Ezio to take his relaxing bath whilst she hauled herself through her room grabbing her bag, phone and keycard on the way, then back down in to the square she found him in. Grace's brain was put on the back burner for now as her feet were working overtime. She knew exactly where she was going. Straight in to the H&M store she had seen on the other side of the square. Grace loved that store she could spend forever in there buying stuff for herself but it wasn't about her today. She'd look in the other few shops that were around before heading back to see what they had but she was in a hurry and wanted to get back to Ezio as soon as she stepped foot outside the hotel. On the power walk over she spied a few designer stores advertised on a department store building which she just had to go in to on the way back. The fashion designer in her wouldn't allow her just to walk on by. But H&M is where she bought eighty per cent of what she was after. The other customers thought she was like a bull in a china shop the way she zoomed around the mens section. But in reality she was just a scary looking English girl on a mission, who could barely see over the huge mound of clothes she had piled up in her arms. T-Shirts, underwear, socks, Henleys, sweaters, pj's, jackets, jeans. Almost every item of clothing imaginable was somewhere in that mound. Almost three hundred and eighty Euros worth of clothing crammed in to 3 huge bags which were making Grace unbalanced as she walked over to the haven of shoes that is Foot Locker. More bags were added to her already massive collection as she bought several pairs of Puma's, Nikes and the odd pair of Converse. A leather goods shop took care of a pair of smart dress loafers just in case they were needed and the department store Grace made herself walk in to; took care of a few other designer bits and bobs. She couldn't resist a few pairs of Diesel jeans, Ralph Lauren shirts and a rather fetching Dior hooded long sleeve shirt; so they had to be bought. Grace's reasoning behind this was that Ezio was a handsome Italian so in her eyes he had to look good, after all he was from the country who spawned some of the world's best designers. But she knew the real reason she bought everything she laid her hands on, she was a woman and like all women she loved shopping. She probably didn't even need to buy as much as she did, but Grace often got carried away, not just with shopping but many other things too. Grace had been running around all the shops like a maniac and was about to leave the department store until the most beautiful thing in the world caught her eyes; a black and grey leather Prada handbag with gold buckles. The bag was calling to her "Buy me Grace! Buy me!" but she had other things on her mind. She had to get back to the hotel. A quick mental note was made to go and buy the bag when she had a spare five minutes.

A person who was leaving the hotel was kind enough to hold the door open for Grace as she unsteadily bustled her way through with her armfuls of bags. The elevator call button was a bit tricky though. She didn't want to put the bags down because it would take her forever to pick them all up again and get the momentum going she had. So she banged randomly on the buttons with her elbow; doing the same to the button for her floor when she finally got in the elevator. It was a quick unsteady shuffle along to her room door where she decided she could actually put some of the bags down. Grace needed to get her keycard out of her bag. She had a quick dig about in her bag before finding the card in some corner of it. Grace ended up thinking about that lovely Prada bag she saw and wondered if it had separating compartments. The bag she had now didn't so everything that went in there was lost, found, turned out to be something else, emptied out then found somewhere else instead of the bag. Glad she did find the card so quickly, Grace tapped on the door three times before swiping the card through the lock; the door beeped signifying it was open. She nudged some of the bags she put on the floor through in to her room with her foot and carried the rest in. Ezio was nowhere in the room so Grace thought he must still be in the tub. She arranged all the bags on the closest bed before walking over to the TV to switch it on. She wanted 5 minutes sit down with some background noise before she did anything else.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone. It's Deeny. So here's chapter 3! :)**

**Please be kind. Comment, review, be lovely, it's up to you! Enjoy. :) xx**

**DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.**

* * *

Ezio had eventually emerged from the bathroom after what seemed to be the longest bath ever. He noticed Grace had glanced over then averted her eyes away back to what she was doing, he was only in a towel after all. She had been sat at the table scribbling away furiously with a pencil.

'I'm about to order some dinner for us Ezio, is there anything in particular you'd like?' Grace asked him as she focused on her work trying not to look at him. She was commissioned to design a wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses for a client back in London so any moment she got was spent working on it.

'I am sure anything you get will be fine. Surprise me." Ezio grinned hoping Grace would notice. She had put her pencil down and stood from the table and walked over to her bedside table where the hotel phone was whilst picking up the room service menu that was wedged in a placeholder.

'Oh Ezio,' Grace said as she shook her hand toward the bed she had placed all the shopping bags on. 'All the clothes I got you are in there I suggest you try them on and find what you like.' She actually looked him in the eyes as she spoke to him, but soon went to gazing over the room service menu. Figuring out what she was going to order for them both, she tapped "0" on the phone to call the room service line. She was greeted with a young sounding woman saying Grace's last name and how she could help, in English. Grace was grateful for the invention of caller ID, at least she wouldn't have to attempt using any of her broken Italian again. In between rattling off the list of things she was ordering to the room service girl she would look over at Ezio. He was rummaging through the bags like all his Christmasses had come at once, stopping every so often so remove an item of clothing and replace it with another or try on the shoes he'd found in another box. Eventually he had settled on a pair of dark jeans, a white v-neck t-shirt, a black hoodie and a pair of white and black Nikes. Grace was happy that she didn't have to dress him at least and try explaining a zip or something. Grace had now finished her phone call.

'Food is going to be about fifteen to twenty minutes.' She stated. 'How are the clothes Ezio?'

'They fit well Grace. I wish I could repay you for everything you have done for me.' Ezio replied as he tugged on his hoodie cords.

'It's no problem at all Ezio it's the least I could do. We can't have you walking around without some modern clothes on. Besides I rather enjoyed shopping for you I only ever buy clothes for myself.' Grace chuckled.

'But surely all of this must have cost you a lot?' Ezio asked. 'I highly doubt that most people would do this for a complete stranger. I will try to repay you in some way I…'

Grace just smiled at him and shushed him quiet. 'Ezio you don't need to do anything I insist. I have a pretty disposable income so there's no worry about money. Besides you're one of our order plus you're in a strange time it's only right I take care of you.'

Ezio bowed gracefully. 'Grazie Grace.'

'Ah don't worry about it.' Said Grace. 'Now, you go take a seat while I hang all these new clothes up of yours don't want them getting all creased.' She chuckled as she gathered up all the clothes and put them on a chair close to the large wardrobe in the room. Grace had moved some of her own clothes in to drawers to keep some space in the wardrobe for some of her design samples, so there was plenty of room in there for Ezio's clothes. There were also quite a few hangars left in the wardrobe so she began sorting the clothes out and hanging them up. Ezio in the meantime had sat at the table and glanced over the sketchbook Grace had been drawing in. There were body shapes all wearing intricately drawn clothing, some flashes of colour were on some of the drawings.

'Grace can I ask what these sketches are?' Questioned Ezio as he motioned his hand over the book. Grace was hanging the last few shirts in the wardrobe. She shut the wardrobe door when she had done and walked over to the table where she sat down and spun her sketchbook round.

'Oh they're some of my ideas, I'm a clothing designer. What you see there are ideas I have for a wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses for a client who's hired me for custom work.' Grace pushed the book over. Ezio turned a few of the pages in the book, eying the drawings carefully.

'They're beautiful Grace.' He said as he scanned the pages. Grace smiled.

'Thank you I'm glad you think so. When I get back home I have to send her some of the designs and hopefully she likes some of them enough for me to go ahead and make samples for her and her bridesmaids.' Grace said as she shrugged her shoulders. Ezio passed the sketchbook back over to her. She shut it and moved it to the side.

Talk swiftly moved on to the Order. Grace explained to Ezio about how their resources had greatly diminished over the years and how the Templars now known as Abstergo were not only bettering them with sheer manpower, but also with the amount of funds and money they had as well as contacts.

'It's not easy being an Assassin these days.' Grace sighed. 'While we still may be worldwide to some extent, there's not that many of us left, especially members with the like of my capabilities or even yours Ezio. Not many reach the end of their training.' Ezio looked slightly crestfalen when she said this. When people say that the future is bright, they obviously had not taken a second look to see that it was actually crumbling apart from the inside. 'We try our best though,' Grace added. 'But sometimes, trying isn't enough.

The pair spun round as there was a knock at the hotel room door. Ezio instinctively attempted to draw his hidden blade but to no avail as he wasn't wearing his bracer. Grace however got up out of her seat and made her way over to the door.

'Calm down it'll be our food!' Grace chuckled as she glanced through the peephole then opened the door to see a waiter with a service trolley. He wheeled it in to the room and carefully laid out the covered platters on to the table along with a jug of water and a bottle of red wine and some glasses; as well as the appropriate cutlery and crockery. He wheeled the trolley back to the door as Grace held it open for him. She held her hand out to the man and gave him a few spare Euros she had in her back pocket for a tip. He thanked her for it and bowed his head as Grace shut the door and walked back to the table rubbing her hands. She was absolutely starving. Ezio was hungry too he could smell some mouth-watering aromas coming from underneath the platter covers.

'Please go right ahead Ezio." Grace said as she poured out two glasses of the wine. Ezio nodded as he raised the lids of the platters.

'Everything smells delicious." Ezio said as he placed the lids on to the table. It reminded him of home, of course with his family being noble they always had the best food going. He missed dining with his family a lot. Grace had ordered various light salads, a pasta dish with a creamy white sauce with bacon, asparagus and mushrooms and she had also ordered two perfectly cooked filet steaks which were still a bit pink in the middle and tender as ever. When Ezio had become an Assassin, he was lucky to eat well at all most of the time he had to make do with what he could rustle up or afford. But now courtesy of Grace he was having a most wonderful meal, savouring every morsel as if it were his last. He toasted her for her kindness. Grace blushed.

Chatter over dinner had turned from the grim subject of the Order and Abstergo to what it was like in the present. Ezio had so many questions about what it was like to live now. Grace answered them as best she could. She explained about how there had been many technological and medical advances since Ezio's time and also how people had changed in themselves. She explained the social aspect of today along with current governments, travel, terrorism, disease, sanitation, entertainment and the arts. Third world countries, Communism, Womens Liberation; which Grace knew he was completely confused about. Everything she could think of whenever Ezio asked. He did ask her about some of the things in the hotel room such as the sanitary ware in the bathroom and as he called it "the flat shiny talking thing with moving pictures." Grace chuckled to herself when he called it that, then she felt slightly sorry for him as this was all alien to him. So she carried on doing her best to tell him what everything was and how to use it.

'That's called a television. It's one of the main sources of entertainment we have now. You can watch a lot of fictional TV shows and factual ones too.'

Grace tried explaining some other devices to Ezio as well as electricity but she admitted to him that she wasn't exactly sure on how everything worked itself. She understood the logic and principle but when it went down to the core she was just as confused as Ezio.

After a fabulous dinner, Grace cleared to plates and platters away and left them outside her room door.

'So has your Bureau contacted you yet?' Ezio asked Grace. She shook her head as she sipped her wine; there was still half a bottle of it left.

'No they haven't, it's making me think something has happened but they do get quite busy so I'll give them some time before I try again.' Grace replied as she motioned for Ezio to take a seat on the sofa facing the room's TV. It was only a small two seat sofa but Ezio managed to take up most of it what with him being male and being substantially larger in build, but also because he had casually draped himself in the seat. She could tell he was a lot more relaxed now. He rested his elbow on the sofa arm and sipped his wine; shooting suave glances at Grace which she noticed immediately. If he was going on the charm offensive with her then he'd have to live up to his infamous reputation. Grace was a hard nut to crack.

Ezio in the meantime had found the TV remote.

'And this is the remote you told me of that controls the TV?' He asked. Grace nodded. Ezio began pressing buttons like she described how to and he watched closely as the channels changed. Grace had to laugh to herself; Ezio was turning in to a typical modern guy right before her eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey folks. It's Deeny. So here's a new chapter :)**

**Please be kind. Comment, review, be lovely, it's up to you! It's all welcome. Also, keep an eye out for my other story "Dusk." Enjoy. :) xx**

**DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.**

Ezio was having a hard time sleeping. The realisation had set in that he was stuck many many years in the future, far away from his own time. Everything was daunting to him. The technology of this time, the clothing, the change in language and even how people acted. Everything was different. He had been talking a lot with Grace earlier though she did seem slightly reluctant in telling him some things. Her Bureau hadn't even called her back, so she decided to leave them another message. She had told him that she would get in touch with some of the other Bureau's if hers hadn't got back to her by tomorrow. She was under the jurisdiction of the British Bureau in London so anything that happened to her was to be reported to them, she also got her missions from them. If nothing had happened, then she would attempt to get in touch with the Italian Bureau who she did try contacting before but couldn't even get through to them either. Ezio could tell she was worried that she wasn't able to speak with anyone else in the order or any of her superiors. Abstergo had a worryingly large presence in Italy so Grace figured that it would be an idea to get Ezio away in to a different country, may be even back to the UK. Getting him there would be interesting. Grace had a certain amount of authority but she still needed to check in every so often.

Ezio pushed back his bed covers and got up to wander about the room. He couldn't hear any noise outside as he walked closer to the windows but he could see some signs of life as he looked out and down on to the street. The curtains or blinds weren't drawn so a small amount of light from the moon and the street lights poured in giving the room a very faint pale yellow glow. There were a few people walking the streets and the odd car driving along but it was well after midnight so everything was quiet. Ezio was walking about, pacing back and forth in just a pair of pyjama bottoms Grace had bought him that afternoon. There was a shirt that went with them but he did away with it, it was too warm for it anyway. Grace wasn't one for wearing much to bed either Ezio had noticed earlier. She wandered out of the bathroom yawning, trying to stay awake long enough to reach her bed. She had changed in to a black camisole and a pair of black shorts, washed her make up off and groggily made her way over to her bed yawning as she went. A slurred goodnight to Ezio and she was out like a light. He had to laugh to himself as women back in his time were either incredibly prudish or turned very sensuous the less clothing they wore. Grace didn't seem to care at all that there was a man in her presence. Either that or she was just too tired to care. Ezio would sneakily watch her walking over to her bed before she climbed in, he noticed she had the legs of a free-runner. Well-formed and toned with muscle where it needed to be. He thought the rest of her was well put together. He couldn't think of an exact word to describe her body shape that didn't sound too sleazy or perverted but "juicy" was the only thing he could think of.

Ezio eventually found himself back in his bed. He was getting tired again and hopefully he would be asleep again soon. Grace was still passed out in her own bed. She had kicked the bed covers off in her sleep and had wriggled on to her front, burying her face in her pillows. Her arms and legs were all over the place and she was making a strange gurgling noise with every breath she took. It was obvious Grace was a rough, but deep sleeper.

Morning eventually came. Grace had slept like a log all night and was having a hard time waking up. She had somehow managed to order breakfast for herself and Ezio. It was a wonder how the person on the other end of the room service line could even understand her slurred, sleepy speech. The room service fellow was along shortly with a few rounds of toast, coffee, juice, bacon, eggs and pancakes. Ezio had woken and flung himself out of bed as soon as he smelt food and sat himself across the table from Grace who was propping her head up with one arm and shakily pouring coffee with the other, focusing on the cup with one partially open eye. The other one refused to open. She eventually went on to pour Ezio a cup.

'Not a morning person?' Ezio grinned at her as he lifted the lids off the plates of pancakes. Grace just stared at him with her one open eye, mumbled something and shook her head. Anything she said came out as a string of random mumbles. It always took her a long time to become coherent in a morning. Ezio was busy enjoying his breakfast; scrambled eggs with bacon along with some buttered toast then a few pancakes with syrup. Grace just settled for pancakes and coffee so she insisted that Ezio take the rest of the eggs and bacon. She had woken up a bit eventually and was now trying to figure out what to do. She thought it'd be an idea to take Ezio around modern day Florence so he could get used to the way things operated now. Grace would also call all the Bureaus she could think of to see if she could get assistance. She would ring the London and the Italian Bureaus again and hopefully get through this time. She asked Ezio about her plan for the day and he agreed, he wanted to have a look around too. He looked genuinely surprised though when Grace told him that a lot of the buildings that were around during his time were still about today.

'Why is everyone staring?' Grace mumbled under her breath. She was uncomfortable because of this. She had a hard time getting out on the catwalk for her obligatory bow and wave of thanks after one of her fashion shows but that was something she would grin and bear. She could swear every woman she passed was burning holes in the back of her head with their eyes and it had been happening for hours now. It was Ezio. She nearly smacked herself for being so dim of course they were glaring at her she was walking alongside a particularly good looking and well-dressed man; though the well-dressed bit was her fault. _I wonder if I could get him to wear a potato sack? No no he'd make that look good too, bugger. _ Grace thought. Grace had dragged Ezio in to the Cathedral to try and get away from the crowds of glaring women but it did no good at all, she still got glares inside.

Ezio was in awe when he entered the Cathedral. He was amazed to know it was still around looking the way it did both inside and out. Grace had been in a few times before on her previous visits but it was still impressive to her.

'They finished the dome ceiling.' Ezio chuckled. 'I remember when they were still painting it.' He continued as he pointed up. Grace smiled at him.

'You found one of the Assassin tombs here didn't you?' She asked Ezio as he moved over to Grace and stood behind her.

'Indeed, it was no easy task.' Ezio replied as he placed his hands on Grace's shoulders. He felt her jump a little when he did. A small crowd of women who were also touring the Cathedral started staring again at Ezio with his hands firmly on Grace's shoulders. She knew what he was doing. She knew he had noticed all the women pining after him. He was trying to wind her up or something and put on a show.

'So where to now, Cara Mio?' Ezio crouched down and purred in to her ear. _Two can play at that game. _Grace thought. She turned slightly so she was nearly face to face with Ezio and tried to be seductive. She was barely keeping it together she either wanted to laugh at him or punch him. In the end, she ended up smirking.

'Come on you lets go get lunch.' Grace chuckled as she stared walking out of the Cathedral. Ezio shrugged his shoulders and followed her. The audience of women who were watching we wondering what had just happened. Ezio eventually caught up with Grace and gave her a playful nudge. She nudged him back slightly before she linked her arm with his.

'I know a great little bistro nearby plus I need to introduce you to the genius that is frozen yoghurt.' Grace said. 'It's not all doom and gloom nowadays you know?'


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey my lovelies. It's Deeny. Another new chapter for you! I have to thanks to everyone for reading and to those who have sent me messages. I've had so many for BTT and for my other story "Dusk." if you haven't read that one yet, please go check it out and tell me what you think. I'd love to hear your thoughts on both my stories. :)**

**Please be kind. Comment, review, be lovely, it's up to you! It's all welcome. Also, keep an eye out for my other story "Dusk." Enjoy. :) xx**

**DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.**

* * *

Grace and Ezio had spent most of the day wandering around Florence, taking in the sights of the wonderful city. But they were now sat outside one of Grace's favourite bistros enjoying lunch and a bottle of white wine; watching the world go by. Grace was surprised they had even managed to get a table as everywhere was becoming busy due to it being around lunch time. The chatter from the bistros other patrons was loud and lively; laughter and the familiar sound of glasses clinking together filled the air.

'Grace?'

Grace looked around her; it was a female voice calling her name. She looked to the side where she saw Simon and Jess waving hello. They walked over to the table where Grace and Ezio were sat near the barrier that enclosed all the tables to the bistro.

'Simon, Jess! How are you?' Grace asked the couple who were holding hands together.

'Oh we've been well, just having a wander about.' Jess said.

Grace remembered she promised to buy them lunch to say thank you for helping her with Ezio when she found him.

'Why don't you join us I still owe you lunch remember?' Grace said to the couple.

'Ah we've already eaten, but I guess we could take a break.' Simon replied. 'We were just on our way to the Cathedral.'

'We've just been there.' Grace said. 'Well let us buy you a drink at least, come round and sit down.'

The young couple nodded and made their way round the barrier to a gap they could get through where the bistro host was stood waiting to show people to tables. At least it would buy her a few seconds to tell Ezio what was happening. She glanced to see Simon and Jess trying to explain to the host they had friends down at the far end.

'Okay Ezio,' Grace whispered to him, 'You're my man and your name is Antonio. This couple helped me get you to the hotel when I found you. I'll explain everything later but for now just let me handle this and try to play along okay?'

Ezio looked a bit confused but nodded as he mouthed his new name. Suddenly Simon and Jess appeared beside them. Grace and Ezio rose from the table to greet them with handshakes whilst Grace introduced them to "Antonio" properly. Everybody was sat down eventually as a waiter came over to take the newcomers order; rum and coke for Simon and a gin and tonic for Jess whilst Grace ordered another bottle of white wine for herself and "Antonio."

'So Antonio I hope you're okay. Grace was struggling trying to get you back to your hotel when we found you.' Jess said as she sipped her drink.

'I am much better thank you, Grace takes good care of me.' "Antonio" replied as he smiled at Grace. Grace had to go along with it as she had inadvertently dug herself a hole when she first met Simon and Jess saying that Antonio here was "her man." _Fucking hell why didn't I say he was a work colleague or a distant relative or something? _Grace thought, imagining she was slapping her own face for her own stupidity. He wasn't Antonio he was Ezio Auditore.; a notorious flirt and ladies' man of his time. He was going to enjoy this thoroughly and Grace was going to feel as uncomfortable as hell. The things she did to protect her orders most revered member who had been flung in to the future, from possible Abstergo employees. Grace bet they would love to get their hands on him.

"Antonio" had decided to speak. 'So what brings you to my beautiful hometown?' He asked. Grace was curious to know too.

'Belated honey moon.' Simon replied. 'We got married just over six months ago but we weren't able to get away after the wedding.'

'Yeah my mother and father are looking after our business while were away for the week.' Jess interjected.

'Aw wow it sounds like you must be busy.' Grace asked as she sipped her wine. 'What business are you in?'

'We have a small garden centre in Cornwall, it keeps us pretty busy most of the time.' Jess said. 'What about you, what do you to do?' Grace had to do some quick thinking. Well she almost did until Ezio spoke for her.

'I'm a banker and Grace is a clothing designer.' Grace looked up as Ezio answered. Simon and Jess both "ahh'd" as their reply. Grace thought Ezio wasn't that useless now, he seemed to be keeping up with what was going on. But now it seemed like she had to keep up with him and also try not to mess up the guise she had given Ezio. _He's Antonio. AN-TO-NI-O. _She kept reciting in her head.

'Wait I know who you are now!' Jess exclaimed as she turned to Grace. 'You're Grace Harvey you have a boutique in London!'

'Yes, yes that's me.' Grace chuckled.

'Aw wow this is awesome I have to say, I love your work. I wore one of your dresses when I was bridesmaid at my sister's wedding a few years ago it was gorgeous.' Jess beamed.

* * *

They talked together for a little while longer after having a few more drinks. Simon eventually asked a question that she hoped wouldn't be asked.

'So how long have you two been together?' He asked. Grace nearly started panicking. She hated lying but it came part and parcel with one of her jobs at least. Sometimes it was necessary, but again Ezio had answered for her.

'About two years now.' He said. What Grace wasn't expecting was the cheeky grin he gave her and his hand landing on top of hers on the table with a smooth caress. Grace was fine around men most of the time but when it came to romantic mushy things; she was absolutely useless. She tried her best to smile lovingly in return but she could only imagine herself grimacing.

Grace was glad when Simon and Jess left as she didn't have to carry on with the charade. She did however give Jess a £300 voucher to spend in her boutique next time she was in London. Any fan of her work that helped her out was a friend in her book so that was an additional thank you. Grace breathed a sigh of relief and downed the rest of her wine. They had been sat in the bistro for about two hours now. Grace looked at her watch it was 14:35pm.

'That wasn't so bad.' Ezio grinned at her as he refilled her glass then refilled his with what was left in the second bottle. The wine barely got to halfway up their glasses.

'I guess so.' Said Grace as she drank from her freshly topped up glass. 'I'm glad you were enjoying yourself.' She continued as she chuckled in to her glass.

'And why shouldn't I enjoy myself?' Ezio asked as he smiled at her. 'I'm sat with my saviour. A beautiful strong woman.'

Again, Grace wanted to laugh, but when she looked at Ezio as he relaxed back in to his seat she saw a hint of seriousness in his face. Grace simply thought. _Oh shit. _She downed the remaining wine in her glass and called the waiter over so she could pay the bill. He wandered over with her cheque which she paid in cash and instructed him to keep the change.

'Come on Casanova. Let's go get that frozen yoghurt I was telling you about.' Grace said as she stood up and pushed her chair back under the table. Ezio followed suit and walked behind her out of the bistro, nodding at the host on their way out. Grace had regained some of her composure after she essentially ran away but there was Ezio once again close to her side. He wasn't bad, it was her problem. She just wasn't good with men at all. Although there was the thought in her head that _if _something happened, would it 'cause some crazy science fiction type time paradox to occur? She wasn't sure. But that was one thing preventing her from doing anything. She admitted to herself that if she didn't have that thought and she was more confident around the opposite sex; she probably would've been on Ezio faster than he could seductively say her name. She was still a woman at the end of the day and she had that carnal side to her too like Ezio did; like everyone else on the planet did.

But now Ezio's seductive, carnal side was represented by his right hand which had now found its way round Grace's waist and in to the back pocket of her jeans.

'So where to now lover of two years?' Ezio grinned at her with every word he said. Grace knew it; he was enjoying this far too much. Yes he was handsome. Yes he could charm women down to the marrow. But he was an all-out cocky shit. It was different though, Grace did admit to herself she kind of enjoyed the attention. She gave in to Ezio and put her arm round his waist if only to keep him quiet.

'Well why don't we go somewhere where I can have dozens of women giving me evils whilst simultaneously drooling over you?' Grace said with a smirk and hint of sarcasm. The pair laughed. It was quite funny.


	6. Chapter 6

**I folks it's Deeny. New chapter guys! I have to say thanks for everyone who had been reading so far and thanks to everyone who has added this to their story alerts. And to those who have sent me messages, thank you! Please if you have a spare moment I'd like to hear your thoughts, so message me if you have the time. :)**

**Please be kind. Comment, review, be lovely, it's up to you! It's all welcome. Also, keep an eye out for my other story "Dusk." Enjoy. :) xx**

**DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.**

* * *

Grace and Ezio had spent a lot of time wandering around today; stopping every so often when Ezio started telling Grace about certain buildings they had seen or stopping even just to rest for a bit. The pair were now sat outside a museum they had just been in. Ezio was absolutely fascinated by all the exhibits inside of items that were from before and after his time. Plus things that were from all over the world too. He was almost like a child learning something that interested them for the first time.

But now Ezio was more interested in the berry flavoured frozen yoghurt Grace had bought and placed in his hands. He'd never had anything like it before. It was sweet yet tarty to the taste and very very cold. He was enjoying it immensely and so was Grace. She bought herself a small tub of mango frozen yoghurt. It was refreshing in the afternoon heat. Whilst they were sat down, Grace rummaged around in her bag for her phone. Eventually she found and began hamming in numbers.

'I'm gonna give the bureaus another try.' I said to Ezio who was nearly finished his frozen yoghurt. Grace pressed the call button after frantically punching in the numbers.

'Frankie its Grace. You heard anything from the London Bureau?' She spoke in to the phone. Ezio watched as Grace cradled her phone between her ear and shoulder whilst scraping her frozen yoghurt out of its tub with her plastic spoon. He could hear a slight voice coming out of the phone but couldn't hear any clear words.

'Well can you get me a secure line to London then? I'll try again and if I don't get through I'll call you back, okay? I need to speak to the Italian bureau if that happens,' Grace said. She turned to Ezio. 'Let's hope they're in.' She grinned. Her face changed however as it seemed like nobody was answering. Then she started talking.

'Hi it's Grace again. I've left other messages already so if there is anyone there at all please call me back, it's urgent. I'm trying the Italian bureau now. Bye.' Answer machine again.

'Nothing?' Ezio asked Grace who was now looking rather worried. She shook her head in dismay. This had never happened before. Frankie wasn't able to tell her anything either. He was the order's go-to guy for technical computer stuff. Nobody knew where he was most of the time as he moved around a lot, but at least when he changed his number he forwarded it to everyone who needed it. Frankie was a Class-A hacker and did his job well. Grace was now calling him back to get a secure line to the Italian bureau. Grace asked him to alert her as soon as possible if he heard anything at all. He eventually diverted her call, almost as soon as she heard him loudly hammering away at his keyboard the phone suddenly crackled then she was greeted with a dial tone. It rang and it rang and it rang. The ringing soon stopped as it sounded like somebody had finally picked up, but the silence was too long, nobody had answered it just went straight through to machine again. Grace was now wondering what the hell was going on. She left a slightly flustered message; half in broken Italian, the other half in English and hoped it was okay. She furrowed her eyebrows together as she hung up after leaving her message. Grace didn't know who else she could try calling as she didn't have many numbers. She thought she could try e-mailing either Shaun or Becca and see if they replied, maybe even Lucy but the last time Grace had heard from Lucy was years and years ago. She had managed to gain entry to Abstergo somehow and remained there as a mole. It wasn't often they had word from her and that's why Grace doubted Lucy would reply.

Grace had to go to her happy place to calm down. She had a man from the past sat beside her and was wondering why he hadn't already licked the inside of his frozen yoghurt tub clean as he seemed to be scraping grooves on the inside of it with his spoon, trying to scoop up every last melted drop. Abstergo would love to have Ezio in their custody if they knew he was in this time. But Grace wasn't about to let that happen anytime soon and she was pretty sure Ezio wasn't either. All she could do was wait till they got back to the hotel so she could use her laptop and see if she could contact anybody via e-mail instead.

Everything had been fine in Florence however. There was nothing out of the ordinary, nobody suspicious or anything like that so Grace was sure that they could at least stay where they were till the end of the week. But what about after that? How was she going to get Ezio back to London if she had to take him there? He obviously had no passport or any identification so she would probably have to either smuggle him back home or get a forged passport.

_I'm in my calming place, I'm in my calming place. Calm, calm. Chill out Grace. You're fine, you're not armed but your fine. You could kill a man with your spoon if you wanted to seeing as you left your gun at the hotel. Idiot._

Grace's mind had gone in to over drive yet again and worst of all; her internal voice was being sarcastic. If there was one thing she was good at then it was being neurotic. She did have a gun with her, one she bought off a black market dealer when she first arrived. She never needed it though every time she had visited Italy, but still she had it just in case. It wasn't really a thing for assassin's nowadays to be walking about in public with swords or crossbows on show, they had to make do with whatever methods they had for dispatching their own would be dispatchers that could be easily hidden. They used high power rifles to deal with distant targets and to be up close and personal it was always some kind of blade, strangulation or the ultimate weapon; poison.

Ezio in the meantime had noticed Grace was having some kind of minor panic attack. He reassuringly placed an arm round her waist, pulled her slightly closer and directed her face in his direction with a gentle finger under her chin. She blinked slightly not knowing what to do as Ezio's face was scarily close to hers now.

'Grace I know you're worried about what's happening but remember we're in this together. If you've got my back then I've got yours. Si?' Ezio said to her. It eased Grace's mind a bit when he said this. He calmed her down just by being calm himself. He wasn't that worried so why should she be? Ezio didn't seem to want to return to his time in any hurry, and rushing at something never got you anywhere quick anyway. She understood the logic. But if they wanted to know exactly how Ezio got in to 2012 in the first place and if it was possible to send him back then they would need the help of the others.

'Si.' Grace smiled as she relaxed her shoulders a little; she needed to hear that.

'Now, shall we head back now Grace?' Ezio asked her as he pulled her up to stand aside him. 'We have got quite a walk ahead of us and I would also like to try this pizza you have been telling me about.'

'Pizza is amazing. You're gonna love it. Nothing like what was around your time.' Grace grinned. 'We can pick one up on the way back.'

'Good, I cannot wait.' Ezio smiled as he offered Grace his arm. She linked her arm round his and off they walked. She would ask Ezio on the way back what kind of pizza toppings he would like. She also made a mental note to herself to buy beer. They casually strolled along the streets chatting away about anything and everything; then the evil looks from random women started again. Grace just rolled her eyes.

_God dammit._


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone, Deeny here! How you all doing? :)**

**Well here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it. If you have a spare moment or two, please comment or message me. I'd like to know what you think. Also please check out my other AC story "Dusk." **

**Enjoy. :) xx**

**DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.**

* * *

There was everything on this damn pizza. Nearly everything anyway, apart from pineapple which Grace thought was criminal and should never be put on pizza. She and Ezio were back in the hotel room with a large pizza with everything on it and a few beers. Grace had quickly got her laptop out and sent e-mails to Shaun and Rebecca before she and Ezio were about to eat. Shaun had several e-mail addresses but she didn't know which he would be using so she sent her message to every one she had on record. She shut her laptop and joined Ezio at the table; he seemed to be enjoying himself anyway as he munched on the pizza they brought back, plus he had been laughing at Grace who seemed to never stop eating. She ate rather quickly too he had noticed. Whenever he saw her pick up a slice of the pizza it would be gone within seconds and she'd dive in again and take another slice.

'I grew up in a home where if you didn't eat your food quickly someone else would steal it off your plate.' She told him. Ezio was intrigued now. He had never heard Grace talk about her family or anything like that, so he decided to ask her.

'Do you have any family at all Grace?' He questioned as he drank his beer straight from the bottle. He'd much prefer wine but beer did seem to go rather well with the pizza.

'I did have family. Well, parents I have no siblings. My parents died years ago.' She stated as she blotted her lips with a paper napkin. 'I grew up in an assassin community. Me, my parents, everyone who lived in the community was an assassin or training to be one.'

'I'm sorry for your loss Grace.' Ezio said sincerely. Grace just shook her head.

'Don't be. It was a long time ago.' Grace seemed eager to get off the subject of her parents so Ezio decided to stay away from it.

'So tell me about the community. How was it?' Ezio continued to question.

'It was alright I guess.' Grace said as she leant back in her chair and swigged at her beer. 'We all travelled about a lot as a group just to keep off Abstergo's radar as best we could. In fact there are a lot of assassin communities all over the world who do the same thing.'

'So, are you a master at all?' Asked Ezio.

'Yep. Nearly two years ago. I had just turned twenty four.' Grace paused for a second. 'That reminds me, I never asked your age Ezio. Do you mind telling me?'

Ezio waved his hands. 'Not at all. I am twenty seven years of age.'

'Oh okay.' Grace smiled. 'A bit older than me then I haven't had my twenty sixth birthday yet.' She cackled. Ezio smiled at her.

'And your training, what were you taught?' Ezio wanted to know everything. He doubted that he would see Grace in action anytime soon or perhaps even never but he was curious to know.

'Well in the community, when you're young you're taught how to free-run, evade, hide and sometimes we also got acrobatics tuition. We all started learning martial arts and how to fight then too.' Grace paused as she drank more of her beer. 'When we got to our teens that's when we all started to learn how to attack with various weapons. We learnt how to use guns, all kinds of swords and daggers and hidden blades too. Then we went on to the more complicated stuff like tracking targets, learning how to mix poisons and set explosives. But all the way through our training we have to keep everything up to a standard and learn at least some basic first-aid.'

'Wow.' Was all Ezio could say. 'All of that sounds quite hard going.'

Grace laughed. 'It was, but it had to be. Master assassins are few and far between nowadays.' Ezio noticed Grace's face turned to sadness after she said that. 'I try to help train the young ones, but it's hard when you've got Abstergo on your back all the time.' Grace stopped talking long enough to start stuffing another slice of pizza in to her mouth.

Ezio thought it would be interesting if he could actually see Grace in action as she seemed to know so much. But then again it would probably be in a bad predicament when Grace would be able to use her skills so maybe it wasn't much of a good thought after all. Though when he looked up at Grace she was sat scowling after she had forced that sliced of pizza down her throat.

'I feel ill now.' She complained.

'I am not surprised; you ate all that like you had not eaten in a month!' Ezio exclaimed with a slight chuckle. The pair suddenly went quiet as Grace's phone which was on the table beside her started to beep. She picked the phone up and pressed a few buttons. She had finally received an e-mail from Shaun. She was thankful that somebody had got back to her. Grace had been slightly selective in what she wrote to Shaun because he was not one of her superiors. If anything she was his superior. But she had to tell him enough about what was going on with the "Ezio situation." She carefully read the e-mail Shaun had sent her.

* * *

"_Grace, it has been so long since we last spoke but I'll cut to the chase about your little situation. _

_To be honest I'm really not sure what you should do especially seeing as some of the bureaus haven't been in touch. I can confirm that communications with London have been unpredictable right now, but everyone's okay there. They've been having some serious technical problems right now so that's why they never called you back I think they haven't been able to reach Frankie either so contacting you from a line other than their own securely would be difficult. Even I've had trouble keeping in touch with them._

_As for Ezio, I'm having a hard time believing he's actually here. Though when you mentioned that it could be a Piece of Eden I remembered something. There was an experiment conducted called the Philadelphia Project back in the 40's where the US Navy in conjunction with Abstergo tried to turn a Navy Destroyer in to some invisible, time travelling boat. With the POE though it worked for all of about twenty minutes. The ship apparently went in to the future then came back but most of the people involved suffered because of it. Many ended up with mental disorders. A lot of them were questioned by the media but they either lied about the project if they knew something or they were just too crazy to believe. But most of the crew could not remember what even happened. Abstergo eventually took the POE and hid it somewhere in case of the possibility of screwing up time paradoxes. You get the picture now. But I'm wondering if Ezio had come across the very same POE in his time and it brought him here?_

_Anyway I'm going off on a tangent here. I'm with Rebecca at the moment at the hideout south of Monteriggioni. Lucy's on her way over with Desmond; He's one of Altair and Ezio's descendants who Abstergo kidnapped recently. Lucy managed to get him out so she's no longer on the inside. I have a hunch that the POE that Ezio was in contact with does not 'cause or affect time paradoxes at all but it does affect people in a certain way. So if you wanted to join up with us I think there would be no problem in Ezio meeting Desmond. I mean there's no other way round it is there really? Well if you're coming over to meet us then I can fill you in on the full story. Just be careful when you do, we don't know how far away Abstergo are or if they've managed to track us here. Sorry this e-mail might not make much sense but we haven't got much time._

_-Shaun."_

* * *

Grace tried to get her head round the garbled mess of an e-mail that Shaun sent her. She figured she would understand more when she got the full story when they got there. But now she had some e-mails to send. One to her shop manager back in London to say she had other business to take care of and that she was sending back her clothing samples via courier; then a reply to Shaun.

"_Shaun,_

_Thanks for getting back to me man. I was getting rather worried about the London Bureau. Jesus I should've been told. What about the Italian Bureau though I tried them and got nothing back?_

_So I think I'll take you up on the offer of coming to you guys. I've got some stuff to sort out my end first but it's late and everything's shut now. Plus there's absolutely no way I'm coming over there without any gear so I need to find some more guns at least. I know a guy in Genoa so I'll get in touch with him and see what he's got I mean if I am gonna be there with you guys the least I can do is be on security detail. I'll try and get everything sorted early tomorrow so we should be with you tomorrow evening, the day after at the latest. Ah shit I'm gonna have to hire a car and drive down. Anyway it'll be nice to see you all again, it has been quite a while huh? I'll message you when we're close. And if you need anything bringing just tell me and I'll see what I can do._

_-Grace."_

* * *

Grace finished writing out her e-mail on her phone then put it back down on the table beside her. Ezio was still munching away on a slice of pizza when she spoke.

'We've got some stuff to do tomorrow. Then we're heading south to meet with some of the others and some new guy.' Grace told Ezio.

'I understand. Is there anything I can do at all to help?' Ezio asked, curious to know who the "others" were.

'Not at the moment. But there'll be stuff to do when we get to the hideout.' Grace replied.

'I see.' Ezio simply stated. He glanced over at Grace who looked like she was in deep thought. 'Is something bothering you Grace?' He asked her. She just shook her head.

'No no I'm just trying to figure out a plan of action.' She replied, lying slightly. She was thinking about telling Ezio that he would be meeting one of his descendants pretty soon, but she was in two minds on whether to do so or not. Though what Shaun had said about the people participating in the Philadelphia Project and how they either went a bit mad or simply forgot everything sort of put her mind at ease. Even when she first found Ezio he had no recollection of how he even got in to the future. But now she had an idea.

'I have an idea. It's probably a bad one but I don't care I'm feeling kinda stressed right now.' Grace stated. Which was true. She was never good at thinking up logical, sound ideas plus she was stressing out a bit.

'Do tell.' Said Ezio. She started to grin as he noticed Grace was chuckling.

'I really fancy getting rather drunk tonight. I don't know why I just do.' She laughed. Ezio looked slightly confused. 'Oh come on Ezio I wanna see you drunk too I think it'd be rather funny. I bet I could drink you under the table.'

'Is that a challenge Grace?' Ezio smirked.

'It might be.' Said as she tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably. 'It's our last night here before we throw ourselves in the deep end, why not have a little fun?' That was her reasoning behind it and she was sticking to it.

'You're on then.' Ezio said. 'But you will lose, cara mia.'

Grace laughed. 'You wanna bet on that? When did this turn in to a competition anyway?' She continued to laugh.

'Fine. If I win…' Ezio trailed off and paused for a moment while he thought. 'I simply want a dance with you and… a kiss.' He grinned at Grace.

_You suave bastard. _Grace thought. _At least he doesn't want more than that._

'Okay that's reasonable.' Grace answered. 'And if I win, I want you to parade around the hotel wearing one of my dresses as if it's normal.'

Ezio looked totally confused now. But then he began to laugh. 'Okay, it is a deal. But still, you will lose.

Grace rose from the table. She was going to go and chance in to something a bit more respectable. 'Yeah yeah just keep telling yourself that.' Grace cackled as she rifled through the rooms wardrobe. She found herself something to wear for that evening then pulled out a long floaty, peach coloured dress she designed that would be big enough for Ezio to wear. She held it out for Ezio to see.

'Now I think this one would suit you rather well.'


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey there everyone! Tis Deeny! I hope you're all doing well, I haven't been so much. Been quite busy plus I seem to be still suffering from a touch of writers block. But I'm getting there slowly.**

**So, if you all have a spare minute; please leave me a comment and let me know what you think! xx**

**DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.**

Grace's laugh was loud; really loud. It carried over the bar like a thick heavy, laughing blanket that made people's heads turn as they wondered where the noise was coming from and what exactly was so funny. Ezio didn't know whether to be embarrassed or to laugh along with her especially with all the attention she was getting. He felt like everyone was looking at him instead. Grace had been downing vodka and cranberry's for fun for a while now and must've made her way through at least two thirds of a bottle of Smirnoff. Ezio however was drinking dark rum and cola. He couldn't remember how many he had so far but he was definitely feeling the effects. At least the impending drunkenness was drowning out the horrendous wailing coming from some very well oiled man who was singing a terrible rendition of Dean Martin's "That's Amore" on Karaoke.

Ezio was however having a hard time judging how drunk Grace was. She was a lot more talkative that's for sure, and she was laughing at pretty much everything, but still she was practically pouring her drinks down her throat haphazardly as if nothing bothered her. Ezio couldn't get his head round after he had tasted the concoction Grace was drinking, which tasted like it could dissolve steel. The rum however was more his thing. It was taking a while for the alcohol to kick in but it was gradually happening. Grace was trying the hang back on her drinking in order for Ezio to catch up as it was a bit of a competition they were supposed to be having, but she was rather impatient and went at her own pace anyway. Ezio thought this would be her downfall sooner or later. He grinned as he thought about if he won their little bet, he would get a dance and more importantly a kiss from Grace. Though to keep her happy with her requests for him to drink quicker, he would oblige every so often just so she didn't start thinking he was being slow on purpose to win.

But hours had passed and Grace had summoned the bar staff over more times than Ezio had cared to remember. They would bring a new round of drinks and take away several empty glasses back to the bar. Grace would still laugh her head off, Ezio had begun to laugh along with her and yet again some man who thought he could sing would get up on the stage in the corner and give yet another terrible rendition of a musical classic.

But Grace had now gone quiet. Ezio studied her and noticed she now looked like what she did in a morning. Her right eye was half open and her left eye was closed entirely. Her lips formed into a wide slightly smiling line and her hand rested on her chin propping her head up.

'I think you've won Ezio.' Grace mumbled as she rubbed her chin with her hand just before she let out a slight yawn. Ezio was almost dumbfounded; though he doubted the alcohol had anything to do with it as she was still upright and forming complete sentences without slurred words. He had to give it to her though, the woman could hold her liquor and she had drank a lot more than he had. Ezio just hoped she hadn't noticed that. He was quite surprised that she hadn't passed out. Though the thought then occurred that she could just be good at hiding her drunkenness.

'Sooooooo.' Grace mumbled. 'What do I owe you Ezio? A dance was it?'

'And a kiss Grace.' He had to get that in before Grace was adamant it was only a dance that was his prize.

'Well come on then lets go dance while there aren't any bad karaoke singers on, the emcee guy's back!' Grace said as she launched herself out of her seat, grabbing Ezio's hand on the way. She led him to the small dance floor just in front of the stage where the emcee was crooning something that sounded like it was by Frank Sinatra, but in Italian. _He's not that bad actually. _Grace thought. They found some space in-between the few couples who were already up dancing together, swaying to the music and the sound of ol' Blue Eyes' doppelganger. Ezio smiled as he pulled Grace closer to himself; gently taking her hand and resting his own right hand on her lower back. Grace smiled back at him as she grasped his arm. Grace chuckled ever so slightly as the height difference between herself and Ezio was rather extreme; even though she had heels on. He must have been around seven to eight inches taller than her at least which in turn ended up with Ezio crouching a touch just to dance with her.

They swayed and twirled, enjoying the few minutes they had together dancing to the faux Sinatra's song. When the song finished, the other bar patrons and all the couples on the dance floor stopped and turned to the man and politely gave him a round of applause. Ezio and Grace turned to face each other when they finished clapping.

'Ezio I am feeling… quite drunk.' Grace giggled in to her hand with the other resting on Ezio's chest for support. He glided his arm around her waist in an effort to keep her stable. Seems like all that alcohol had finally done its work. It just needed a bit to kick in.

'Come, lets get you back to the room.' Ezio stated as he began guiding Grace to the bars exit, leading in to the hotels main foyer.

'But I still owe you the other half of your prize.' Grace announced. She looked up at Ezio pouting a little bit with her cheeks as red as apples from blushing.

Ezio just smiled at her. 'Grace do not worry about that, I had the honour of dancing with you. '

Grace's face had changed when he said that. She started pouting even more and her eyebrows furrowed. 'But a deal's a deal! And I like to think I'm pretty fair and fulfil deals whatever they are.'

Ezio took no time at all in making his mind up. If she insisted then she insisted he wasn't about to start arguing with Grace over some silly little bet they had made. That aside, he really didn't mind having a kiss off her in fact he quite wanted one he did ask for it in the first place. He moved in on Grace with almost expert accuracy and quickly took her in to his arms, their lips tenderly meeting as they drew closer to each other. Closing their eyes for the few seconds the kiss lasted they softly parted as a comfort was felt between them that only a kiss could provide. They smiled at each other as Ezio placed his hands on either side of Grace's face and softly planted a kiss on her forehead before drawing her in to a tight embrace.

'Grace you have done so much for me in the shot time I have known you.' He whispered. 'It's not often an assassin receives kindness from anyone like this. You've been my angel.'

Grace reached up to where Ezio's hands were and released them from her face, lacing her fingers with his and squeezing slightly as she beamed up at him.

Then her eye started getting lazy again.

'Okay so I think my angel needs to sleep.' Ezio chuckled. He led Grace over to the nearest elevator and tapped the buttons. He kept Grace upright on the way to their room when she suddenly went in to Bull-In-A-China-Shop-Mode when she wobbled in. She went straight for the bathroom groggily closing the door shut behind her. In the meantime while she was busy clattering about in the bathroom, Ezio changed for bed and slid himself under the covers; he was pretty tired himself. But every so often he would cackle in amusement at the noises coming from the bathroom. Grace sounded like she was constantly dropping bottles or was throwing them around and every so often a disgruntled 'Shit!' or 'Ah bollocks!' was heard as it was apparent that she had either fallen over or had dropped whatever it was she was trying to hold. Eventually she emerged in to the room after successfully removing most of her clothing down to a vest top and her underwear, turning off all the lights she staggered pass and collapsed on to the first bed she arrived at. Ezio's bed. He was half asleep when he felt Grace tumble in beside him. He let her be; with her arm casually draped over his chest and one of her legs sneaking under his bed covers to find warmth. Her leg never did find any warmth but instead pushed the covers down to the bottom to the bed; taking most of what Ezio had bunched around him with it. Grace subconsciously wriggled in to Ezio, his body heat emitting the warmth she was after. Figuring it would be a bad idea trying to wake her or attempt to retrieve his covers, Ezio simply rearranged Grace's flailing limbs in to order and wrapped his own around her. Who needs bed linen when you have a body beside you for shared warmth?


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey everyone, Deeny again! How is everyone? :)**

**So here's the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy it. Please comment if you have a spare minute or two. And also, I'm going to start doing some shout outs her to all the lovely folks who leave me messages or favourite my stories and so on. So this past week with the comments and follows I got, a big thanks goes to ****Novexus Prime and EatYouSoul who favourited me and my other story Dusk. Thanks again! :D**

**Also please check out my other AC story "Dusk." **

**Enjoy. :) xxx**

**P.S. Ezio will be coming out of his shell a bit soon so there will be more of him. :)**

**DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.**

* * *

Ninety nine per-cent of the time; Grace Harvey was never really that outgoing when it came to men; when she was sober at least. But that one stray per-cent when she was the exact opposite and as drunk as could be; stupid things tended to happen and she would be all over some guy like a rash ending with some rather embarrassing walk of shame home, with her make up from the night before smeared across her face and crazy sex hair.

But the next morning when she woke, she was rather relieved that although she had stumbled in to his bed and draped herself over Ezio in her sleep; she still had her underwear on and could remember a bit from the night before so she knew she hadn't done the dirty with the man from the past.

Though right now she did have a horribly dry mouth and she was rather surprised at the lack of a terrible hangover. She did have a slight headache but a few painkillers and a big mug of coffee would sort that out. She was thankful that she wasn't feeling too dizzy and her stomach wasn't churning. Grace carefully tried peeled herself off the still sleeping Ezio who wasn't having any of it. He rolled over off his back on to his side turning Grace with him; trapping her with his muscly arm and nuzzling his face in to the nape of her neck.

'Just ten more minutes.' Ezio mumbled in to Grace's neck. 'You're nice and warm.'

Grace sighed as she glanced over at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It read 09:27am. _Ten minutes won't hurt. _She thought. Grace had to admit it was rather nice having someone cuddling up to her, even that didn't happen often either. She couldn't remember the last time she had any contact like that. The ten minutes was soon up though and Grace really had to get up. She had a lot of stuff to do that morning before they set off to meet the others. Ezio was however pretty reluctant in letting her go, but he gave in eventually then propped himself up in bed as he watched Grace flit about the room not wearing much of anything. _Pervert. _Grace would think and grin.

In a short amount of time Grace had already ordered room service, she had rang a hire car company who would be dropping off some kind of 4x4 when they checked out later, and she had also rang a courier company to come pick up her clothing sample cases to take back to her shop in London. Everything was sorted, so that morning they could chill out a bit before they set off driving. She still hadn't spoken to her gun guy in Genoa but she messaged him asking to get back to her. In the meantime though she would go and get dressed, put a bit of make-up on and make herself look presentable. Ezio on the other hand eventually managed to crawl out of bed and wander in to the bathroom after grabbing some clothes on the way in. Grace thought he looked a little rough and possibly just a bit hung-over, so after a quick hunt around in her handbag she found some painkillers for him and poured a glass of water from the table decanter. He eventually emerged after dressing and brushing his teeth and sat himself down at the table. Grace pushed the glass of water and painkillers over to him.

'Take these if you have a headache.' She said. Ezio graciously gulped them down.

'Thanks.'

Breakfast arrived shortly after; a huge mound of pancakes along with some bacon, scrambled eggs and a jug of orange juice. Ezio dove in to the food as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. Grace poked at her pancakes with her fork, she wasn't really that hungry but she needed to eat as there was a busy day ahead of them. At least Ezio was there; at the rate he was eating there'd be nothing left.

By eleven o'clock Ezio and Grace had finished breakfast and were now packing their cases. Grace had a spare empty case for all of the clothes she had bought Ezio so she didn't have to rush out and buy a new one. All her other cases containing her sample clothing were all packed up ready to go, so they could be left at the hotel's reception, waiting for the courier to pick them up. The car she ordered would be there just before they had to check out at twelve so they had plenty of time to relax a bit before they had to leave. Ezio's minor headache had begun to subside and he was feeling much better after a good breakfast.

'I needed that.' Ezio sighed after he finished feeding his face whilst rubbing his stomach in satisfaction.

'You're not saying!' Grace exclaimed. Though she was interrupted by her phone ringing. She picked up her phone and mouthed 'Excuse me' to Ezio as he began piling their used breakfast plates on top of each other.

'Hello?' Grace answered the phone. Ezio could hear another voice emitting from the device. 'Yes I need some gear Vince.' Grace paused as this "Vince" was talking.

Ezio decided to make himself useful and started moving their now packed cases over to the room's door ready for them to leave. He listened to Grace as she spoke to the man named Vince on the phone.

'Yeah, and I'm after a Barrett if you can find me one. The XM500 if you can get your hands on it. And some kind of sub-machine gun too I don't care what kind.' Grace said as she paced up and down the room. 'I know! I know Vince they're hard to come across but I'm willing to pay whatever.'

Ezio had absolutely no idea what Grace was talking about, but it sounded important to her at least. She kept checking her watch as she was talking.

'Right well make sure you get me plenty ammo this time. I had to ration myself last time and I really don't like doing that.'

Grace looked over at Ezio and rolled her eyes with a slight grin on her face. She mouthed some words at him showing she was exasperated with the phone call.

'Okay then Vince. I'll be with you in a few hours. Same place as last time. Yeah. Yeah okay see you then.'

Grace hammered a button on her phone to end the call. She turned and smiled at Ezio.

'Ready to go?' She asked. Ezio nodded. He grabbed a few of the cases as Grace opened the door for him. She had one last glance around the room to see if they had forgotten anything. Happy that they hadn't; she grabbed her handbag and flung it round her shoulder before grabbing the last few remaining cases. She shuffled out the door letting it swing to behind her.

'Grace?' Ezio asked her as they walked down the hallway to the elevators. 'Can I ask what a Barrett is?' He then elbowed the call button for the elevator.

'Yeah a Barrett is an anti-materiel rifle. It's a big gun with big bullets that makes mincemeat out of bodies and even cars and stuff.' Grace replied. 'I've used one before, the range on them is impressive. You'll see it soon enough.' She smiled at Ezio.

He smiled back at her. 'So we're off to Genoa now to pick it up?

'Yeah that is if Vince manages to get one for me within the next few hours. He's pretty good though he can handle my mad requests.' She giggled at her statement. The elevator finally arrived, Ezio and Grace shuffled in with their cases and Ezio elbowed the button for the ground floor. Grace was a bit jealous of his precise elbows. She always ended up hitting the wrong ones.

Eventually after a few stops of people getting on and off the elevator; they made it to the ground floor. Grace checked out and paid the tab made to her which was rather steep but Miss. Disposable Income didn't care in the slightest. Besides she would be paying tens of thousands in Genoa for her guns soon. She left her cases that needed to go back to London at reception for the courier to pick up and now she and Ezio were left with two medium sized cases of their own. After filling in a quick feedback card as requested by the receptionist, she thanked the young girl manning the desk who couldn't stop looking at Ezio; then swiftly left. Ezio followed her through the main doors of the hotel out to the Valet guys who were always really attentive. One hurried over to her as soon as she stepped out.

'Miss. Harvey, your car is ready I'll bring it round for you now.' A young valet lad said to her. She didn't see the name on his name tag but she thanked him before he run off. As she turned back to Ezio she noticed the department store across the way that had that lovely handbag in it. She completely forgot about it. _Oh well._ She thought. She could probably buy the same one in another department store somewhere else.

The valet man had eventually brought the hire car round within a few minutes. She tipped him with some spare euros she had in her back pocket as he helped her and Ezio load their cases in to the back of the motor; a big Toyota Landcruiser. Grace nearly made the mistake of telling Ezio to get in the right side of the car; forgetting that she was in Italy and not in the UK. Eventually they had both climbed in to the car. Ezio was in awe of the car's interior as Grace turned the ignition on and the engine growled in to life.

'So this is a car then?' Ezio questioned as he felt the leather of the seats.

'It is indeed. One of the main modes of transport in this time.' Grace said as she shifted in to first gear, slowly setting off from the valet parking. She crept up to the junction on to the main road, watching for an opening in the traffic where she could get out. Whilst she was waiting, she pulled on her seatbelt.

'Ezio just grab that belt and click the clip in there.' She said as she pointed to his seatbelt. She ended up glancing at the cars stereo, she noticed there was a USB port on it so she could connect her iPod and not have to listen to the radio which annoyed her. The traffic wasn't letting up so she quickly plugged in her iPod and set it playing one of her playlists. But she was getting angry now at the traffic. That is until some nice person had kindly let her out in front of him. They were on the road to Genoa now.

'Grace what are all these for?' Ezio eventually spoke up as he pointed to the various buttons on the cars dashboard. She was in for a long ride if she was going to explain every single button to Ezio. But she did anyway. He looked so intrigued and full of wonder. But she had to laugh after the explained the electric window button on his side of the car. He let the window go down, before letting it back up again, then he wound it down, then back up again. But he soon got bored with it after having a few chuckles at it. Grace had to feel a bit sorry for him though when she eventually got on to the main motorway and she put her foot down. The sudden acceleration caused Ezio to grab on to his seat before he realised he was okay. He wondered how something so big that didn't consist of a few horses and a wooden carriage could move so fast as the car did. He'd watch in awe as other cars would whizz past them at speed. Grace told him they would be in Genoa in a few hours. This amazed him the most.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey folks, Deeny here! :)**

**Here's a new chapter for you all. I know there's a few of you who may follow me or BTT and also follow my other story Dusk and I haven't updated it in a little while; so I'm getting on to it now. Expect a Dusk update soon. **

**Also, a few shout outs. Thanks to breakingconfessional who left me a message and followed me! :) And thanks to Discofreak1029, poisedrose and elmoisemo6 for following BTT! **

**Enjoy everyone. As always, please leave me a message if you have a minute spare, I'd love to hear what you think. :) xxx**

**DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.  
**

* * *

It was fairly quiet on the road to Genoa which Grace was thankful for; they got there in no time at all. It did mean that Ezio wasn't subjected to her terrible singing for long. He did however doze off for a bit every so often but when he woke, he would ask how much further till Genoa and how long they had been on the road so far.

Grace's plan had now changed seeing as they had arrived in Genoa earlier than expected, so she suggested they get some lunch before they went to meet Vince. Ezio said yes to the idea as he rubbed his stomach. It had been a while since breakfast. They found a small roadside café-diner type place that was obviously a haunt for truck drivers. They had a lot of hearty meals on their menu that would fill you up and keep your hunger at bay for a while. Ezio found himself tucking in to a huge steak accompanied by a massive portion of fries and a mixed salad. Grace however decided to sink her teeth in to a quarter pound cheese burger along with fries and more salad. She had already demolished most of the burger as well as handfuls of the diner's fabulous fries which she told Ezio were quite possibly 'The best god damned fries' she'd ever had. They both agreed their meals were wonderful and filling. It was just what they needed after a night of drinking to chase away the remnants of a meagre but annoying hangover. The bill surprised Grace even more; two massive meals along with a few colas and she barely paid over 14 Euros. She was definitely coming here again, even if only for the fries alone.

Ezio nearly ended up driving again as Grace wandered around to the wrong side of the car before correcting herself halfway only having to double back on herself and shake her head at her idiocy.

'Is there something wrong?' Ezio asked her when he saw her shake her head and 'tut' at herself.

'Oh no nothing just me being stupid. I keep forgetting we're in Italy where you drive on the other side of the car than we do.'

'You mean in England?'

Grace nodded. 'Yeah our steering wheel is on the right side of the car not the left. It is incidentally the RIGHT side to drive on.' She had to get that in there. It was just so weird for her to be on the left side of the car, driving on the right side of the road. It just didn't make sense and she wasn't overly keen on it.

Ezio was quietly chuckling away to himself as he fastened his seatbelt and reclined back in to seat. He needed that food and enjoyed every mouthful of it. He dozed off again feeling every bit satisfied from his full belly until Grace started singing along with her music again; or, trying to sing along at least. Ezio imagined that every time she attempted to sing she would bring dozens of cats of out of nowhere around her.

Fifteen minutes' drive later, the pair found themselves going down in to the darkness of an underground car park just on the outskirts of Genoa. It was never busy; only a few cars actually used this place but more people liked using the over ground car park more where everything could be seen. It belonged to a nearby shopping mall but they had more space round it than anything so the separate car park was really just a waste of money. It was used more by kids with their skateboards and BMX bikes more than anything. But they weren't about today. The lack of security cameras and people in general was very welcome. And the fact some of it was underground was a bonus too; it rendered most monitoring and surveillance equipment defunct.

Grace eventually found what she was looking for on the second lower level. An obnoxious looking, black BMW with blacked out windows and those horrible bright white headlights that always blinded you on the road at night. That was Vince's car. She saw him step out of his BMW when she pulled the Landcruiser up in to a spot a few places down from him. Both Grace and Ezio stepped out of the car. Grace was glad she had parked in such a way so that Vince couldn't see her shoving her hand gun down the back of her jeans and swiftly covering it with her shirt. He was an alright guy, but she didn't trust him fully. She opened up the Landcruisers boot lid as she walked round the back. Ezio walked round and stood beside her as she rummaged around in one of the side pockets of her cases. She pulled out nearly a housebrick sized wad of cash. Ezio had seen the paper money before and his eyes widened at the thought of how much money was there exactly. Vince eventually spoke up as Grace emerged from the car boot.

'It's been a while has it not?' Vince mused. He was a rather tall, skinny fellow with floppy blonde hair that looked like it either needed cutting or a brush running through it at least. He had a few days growth round his chin and a general sense of unkemptness about him. Vince was from somewhere in Germany; his accent made it obvious being rather thick and heavy with certain words. He glanced once or twice at Ezio, but never even asked for an introduction. Grace was happy with that. The less people knowing exactly who Ezio is the better.

'It has indeed Vince. You got my stuff?' Grace simply said. She wanted to get going as soon as possible.

'Straight to the point as always.' Vince sighed. 'Yes I managed to get your stuff.'

Grace's face lit up. If he did manage to get everything then he must have found her the Barrett she wanted. Vince noticed her face had changed.

'Yes I got you the Barrett. But it was not cheap at all; it's got a good scope too.' He almost made that sound like a warning as he wandered back over to his car. He popped the boot lid open and reached in pulling out a long, black rather heavy looking case. He shuffled over to the boot end of the Landcruiser and hauled in the case. Ezio was intrigued now; he was about to see the Barrett that Grace had been anxious to get. He watched as Vince released two clips keeping the case shut and slowly lifted the lid revealing its contents.

'Perfect Vince, you've done me proud.' Grace beamed.

Ezio stared at the rifle. The Barrett was a pretty big gun and must've been rather heavy especially in its case. He wondered exactly how powerful this weapon could be after Grace told him that it made mincemeat out of flesh and could stop cars dead in their tracks. He didn't know if it was a good thing or not wanting to see it in action. But he remembered Grace talking about a sub-machine gun earlier on, he really wanted to know what that did and what it looked like. Vince had closed the lid on the Barrett's case and made his way back over to his car when he pulled out another case and a small duffel bag. The case was smaller this time not much bigger than a briefcase. He placed it down on top of the Barrett's case and popped it open.

'Of course the German gets me a H&K.' Grace chuckled as she looked down at the gun.

'Of course.' Vince chuckled back at her. 'MP7, it'll get the job done. And as requested, plenty of

ammo for both.' Vince continued as he held up the little duffel bag.

'Thanks man, what do I owe you?' Grace asked, she was happy with what she had now but she wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible before Vince started asking questions.

'Twenty two grand.'

Grace wasn't complaining at that, he could've easily charged her a lot more seeing as he got her Barrett which are hard to come by usually. But she decided to be nice to him and gave him twenty five grand instead, especially seeing as he managed to get exactly what she wanted at such short notice. Vince took the money and threw the duffel back in to the boot before saluting Grace and Ezio. He wandered over to his car, climbed in then started the engine before shooting off. Short and sweet and the job was done.

Ezio had just been witness to his very first illegal gun trade. He had a lot of questions for Grace.

'So, are these the kinds of weapons that modern assassins use?' He asked Grace as he climbed in to the car and began to pull on his seatbelt. Grace had already clicked hers in and had started the car.

'Yeah they are. We generally tend not to use older methods really. Well, not unless it calls for it.'

Ezio thought about his hidden blades. Many men had met their death through his hidden blades, his most trusted weapons.

'Do you still use hidden blades at all?' He asked out of curiosity.

'We do indeed.' Grace replied as she made her way back out on to the main road. 'A lot don't though they'd rather kill their targets from a distance as they have a better chance of escape and not getting caught. But the hidden blade lets you get up close and do your job quieter. I still use them from time to time.'

Ezio ceased his questioning for a little while. Although he did ask Grace how long they had to travel to get to their next destination.

'A good few hours.' Grace replied. 'Just outside of Grosseto.'

Ezio just nodded in reply before he went back to watching the outside world whizz by him through the car window. He remembered he would be meeting more modern day assassins when they got to their destination. But in the meantime, he simply drifted off to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey folks! It's Deeny, how's it going?**

**Here's the next chapter. Now, I had an idea. Would you lot rather have my average of around 1200-1500 word chapters more often, or would you prefer a much longer chapter but less frequent than the shorter ones? Answers on a postcard please or well… in a message! Hahahaha! **

**Which reminds me, shout outs since the last chapter go to: ****breakingconfessional, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! Blackrockshootaaahhh (awesome name!) DragoLord19D, RosaLuna416, Sognatori's Last Dragon and dragonlady111111. Thank you so much for all your faves and follows! :)**

**Enjoy. :) xx**

**P.S. I promise Ezio will be in this more soon, I'm building up to it!**

**DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.**

* * *

Ezio felt a hand gently shaking his arm.

'Ezio, wake up we're here.' It was Grace who was currently unbuckling her seat belt and opening the driver's door. Ezio shook his head and stretched a bit before he did the same. Stepping out of the car and shutting the door behind himself; he looked around to find that Grace had driven in to a rather large building. Grace was now opening the boot door of the car and she had begun to rummage around the collection of cases. She pulled out the larger case containing the Barrett before letting Ezio take the smaller duffel bag and H&K case. Ezio's ears perked up when he heard the sound of footsteps against metal.

'Grace? Grace is that you!?'

Ezio looked out from round the car boot door at a slim girl with short hair running toward Grace with her arms outstretched. She had almost launched herself at Grace who was now laughing; embracing the girl with her free arm.

'Ahh Rebecca it's so good to see you again!' Grace exclaimed. The two girls laughed at each other as they embraced. Ezio however was now looking at the three other figures that were descending down the metal staircase and ramps. A young looking blonde woman wandered over with a huge smile on her face. The Rebecca girl had finally released Grace and now the blonde woman was hugging her.

'Grace it's been too long.' Said the blonde as she wrapped her arms around Grace, squeezing her tightly.

'You can say that again. It's been like what, ten years nearly?' Grace replied. 'How you holding up?'

'Getting by as you can see. It's been tough but we're holding on.'

Grace just nodded until she heard a voice talking to her.

'Well at least we finally have someone normal with us now.' Said the voice.

'What Shaun you mean English?' Rebecca chortled.

'Of course. What else would I mean.' The man named Shaun retorted. He wandered over to Grace and gave her a hug. Then Ezio noticed that Grace and Shaun did some kind of strange handshake with each other.

Grace eventually turned to Ezio, then everyone else turned to face him. 'Well I guess Shaun filled you in on what has happened. Please everyone, this is Ezio. Ezio, this is Rebecca, Lucy and Shaun. They're assassins too.'

The group all waved at each other and said their hellos. Though Ezio and Grace were keen to know who the random guy stood behind them was. Then Grace remembered that Shaun mentioned some "new guy" that had joined them.

'And who might this be?' Grace asked. The group parted to reveal a rather tall man with short dark hair, wearing jeans and a white hoodie in which his hands were stashed in his pockets. He took a few steps closer to Grace and drew his right hand out of his hoodie pocket.

'Grace, this is Desmond Miles. Desmond, meet Grace Harvey.' Lucy introduced the two.

Grace studied Desmond's face. Shaun said that he was a descendant of Ezio but she was shocked at the resemblance they shared. Their eyes were almost the same, their noses were identical, the strong jawline matched, they even had scars on their lips in the same place. Desmond reached his hand out which Grace took, giving a firm shake.

'It's nice to finally meet you Desmond.' Grace said sincerely.

'You too.' Desmond replied. He had a nice smooth voice. _I wonder if he's anything like Ezio… _Grace thought. Then she remembered the important bit. She turned back round to Ezio.

'Ezio, we weren't really sure if we should tell you this or not but we agreed that we should in the end.' Grace motioned her hand toward Desmond as she continued to speak to Ezio. 'Desmond here is actually one of your descendants.'

There was silence between everyone. It didn't feel uncomfortable but it was slightly awkward. Until Ezio reached his hand out to Desmond.

'It's a pleasure to meet you Desmond.' He said in his Italian accented English.

Desmond didn't really do anything for a few seconds until he reached out his own hand and shook Ezio's firmly. He looked almost reluctant.

'Likewise.' He simply stated.

Grace rolled her eyes. _Wow he's a man of many words. _She thought. She started feeling quite uncomfortable now and was sure that the others would be too, especially watching the display between Ezio and Desmond. She wasn't sure if it was a hint of reluctance between them that made everything feel awkward or the fact that they were family meeting each other from different times; or even if it was just because they were men. She eventually decided that it was a mixture of them all.

'Right then.' Shaun clapped his hands together, jolting everyone else back to reality. 'Shall we get down to business then.'

'Yes, lets.' Grace replied, thankful of Shaun's intervention. She grabbed a few bags of shopping she got on the way down; just some random supplies they may have needed and some food. Ezio had the other gun case and had a hold of a few more shopping bags. Rebecca had the remaining bags leaving Shaun carrying two cases which he was not happy about.

'So we got you some supplies on the way down, don't really know if you needed anything or what you all wanted so I just got some bits and bobs.' Grace said as she walked up the metal stairs with the group. She eyed that Desmond character as he was walking alongside Lucy; he looked like he was whispering to her or at least making an attempt to; she could hear his voice just enough to make out a few words.

'Yeah thanks for that, we were kinda running low on some things.' Rebecca replied. 'We haven't really been able to go out. I hope you brought some fun stuff though.'

'Of course I did!' Grace exclaimed trying to sound like she was offended. 'One bottle of Single Malt, 2 bottles of vodka, few bottles of wine and… tequila.'

The group eventually made their way up to the warehouse's loft. The loft's main room was fairly large and housed most of the teams equipment including Rebecca's baby; the Animus 2.0. Other than that, nothing had really changed in this hideout since the last time Grace was here. The small kitchen area was still tucked away in a different room. There was a small bathroom along one of the halls and another room where there were around half a dozen beds dotted about. It was all they needed really. The window at the back of the kitchen provided an excellent view of the surrounding area. Grace decided this is where she would keep watch. Everybody who was carrying something took it to its new home.

Ezio and Grace's luggage ended up in the makeshift bedroom whilst all the shopping was left in the kitchen. Soon Grace was setting up her gear by the kitchen window. She found a small table going spare in one of the rooms and carried it over to the window. She needed a large, flat surface to rest the Barrett and it's bipod on to keep it steady should she need to shoot. Ezio in the meantime had laid the H&K case he was carrying in a space on the table. Grace thanked him as she grabbed a nearby pair of binoculars that were resting on the window sill. Soon, she had a chair set up and was prepping her equipment; laying out her Barrett magazines ready to be loaded if she needed them. The kitchen window provided a perfect for her to monitor the outside should anybody try wandering in to the large yard in front of the warehouse. Happy with her set up so far, she glanced at Ezio only to catch him yawning again.

'Ezio why don't you go get some rest in a proper bed? You've been dozing off in the car all day today you should at least get a few hours in.' Grace said to him. By the way he looked; Ezio was in no fit state to argue. He was in fact really really tired. Though Grace herself wasn't fairing that well either, she even mentioned that she could do with a few hours sleep too before it started getting dark outside and she would offer to take the evening guard shift. Both Grace and Ezio turned round to see the group working away at computers. Or in Desmond's case he was laid back in the Animus. Grace spoke up just so they could hear her.

'Um, guys we're gonna go sleep for a bit. We're both tired and I'm offering to do the evening guard shift. She said with a slightly raised voice so everybody could hear. They all nodded and said their replies as Ezio and Grace walked in the direction of the main bedroom where it was cooler and quieter from the lack of serious machinery. Grace fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow; she didn't realise just exactly how tired she was. But a few hours went by pretty quickly and found herself waking up just as it got in to the evening. Ezio was still passed out on the bed opposite her. She didn't have the heart to wake him so she silently trudged out of the bedroom and back in to the main room of the loft to see what the others were doing. Shaun was talking to Rebecca about something and Lucy was still working away at her computer, Desmond however was nowhere to be seen. Grace ducked back through in to the kitchen and began pottering around with cups she had found and the hammered a few buttons on a nearby coffee machine. She found a small tray and arranged a sugar bowl, a small milk jug and a few teaspoons on it. The coffee machine was gurgling away as the jug slowly filled with the dark substance. As soon as the machine clicked off, Grace poured the coffee in to the cups and took the tray through in to the main room. Shaun and Rebecca ceased their chattering when they noticed their friend had brought them coffee. Grace however had picked up one of the cups, stirred in a spoonful of sugar along with a splash of milk and took it over to Lucy who was sat glaring at her computer screen and rubbing her eyes.

'Here, looks like you could do with a break.' Grace said as she handed the coffee to Lucy.

'Thanks Grace.' Lucy replied as she took the coffee. She sipped at the hot beverage before she stood up from her desk and took her place beside Grace as they walked over to Shaun and Rebecca who were sat down on the sofa.

'So, I guess we all need to talk about Ezio.' Grace spoke up. There was a moment of silence in the group, none of them had any idea about what to do or if there was even a way to get him back to his own time. 'I think we can safely say that it was a POE that cause all this.'

Everyone nodded their head in agreement.

'Well I'm pretty sure that it was the same piece of Eden that Abstergo were experimenting with for the Philadelphia Experiment.' Shaun spoke up. 'If we knew where it was perhaps we could think of something from there?'

'And I think we can rule out any paradoxes.' Rebecca said as she sipped her coffee. 'I mean, Ezio's been out of his time for a while now and nothing seems to have changed here.'

'That is true.' Grace replied. 'What do you think Lucy?'

Lucy looked deep in thought before she spoke. 'Well we can research what we can for the time being and see if we can't track down this POE. We still need a bit more time before Desmond gets the full benefits of the Animus Bleeding Effect. He's still not fully trained.'

'Well I can help you there.' Grace interjected. 'I mean the Bleeding Effect will only teach him so much but he'd still need to function like a modern assassin.'

'Would you do that?' Lucy asked her friend.

'Of course! If he is one of us and he needs to be trained then, yeah. We are kinda dwindling in numbers.' Grace replied. 'If Desmond really can help our cause then I don't see why not.'

'Fine then. It's settled.' Lucy said as she placed her coffee cup down the table.

'What's settled?' A voice came from over near the door out to the hallway. It was Desmond who walked in rubbing a small towel across his head and face.

'Oh Desmond.' Lucy greeted him as he walked over to the group. 'We were just talking about your training through the Bleeding Effect. Grace has offered to train you too.'

'Do you think it's necessary?' Desmond questioned sounding ever so slightly hostile.

Grace couldn't help but scorn at that remark and Shaun had noticed. He nudged her in the side with his elbow and she flinched. She didn't like the tone of Desmond's voice. But Lucy put him straight before Grace even had a chance to open her mouth.

'Desmond we can't always rely on the Animus and the Bleeding Effect. Grace can teach you how modern assassins work plus it would give you a chance to practice what you've learnt so far.'

Grace thought that she wouldn't have put it quite that way but Lucy was right. Practice does indeed make perfect and with what little time they had; Desmond would come in handy especially if he was trained properly. Grace had looked over Desmond's notes that Rebecca had made from his Animus sessions and he was in fact learning his trade through Ezio; who was good. But modern day assassins couldn't rely on the old methods all the time. They needed up to date combat methods and serious automatic weaponry.

Desmond didn't say anything for a while. But he did speak eventually.

'Okay I'll do it.'

'Great.' Grace said as she rose from the sofa. 'We'll start A.S.A.P. But not right now I'm on security detail, I'll speak to you all later I got a monitor to set up.'

'I can do that for you!' Rebecca exclaimed.

'No no I can do it, it's no problem.' Grace replied, but Rebecca wasn't having any of it. The two women made their way in to the kitchen, taking the empty coffee cups with them.

* * *

'He'll warm up to you eventually.' Rebecca said to Grace as she placed the cups in the sink. 'It's been hard for him from what I can gather, plus Ezio being right here right now must be quite a shock.'

Grace sighed. Rebecca was right. Grace remembered in Shaun's e-mail that Desmond had been kidnapped and that could never be a nice experience for anyone and the fact that one of his ancestors; one who's memories he was reliving right now through the Animus was here in the same building with him must be shocking. But still, if she was going to be helping train him, then she would not be soft with him. She never got that luxury when she was being trained even when she was young.

'Right let me go get the gear you need and I'll have it set up in a few minutes.' Rebecca said as she turned to leave. She soon returned with a flat screen monitor and a laptop. She proceeded to hook everything together with the necessary cables close to where Grace would be sitting on watch. Soon, everything was up and running showing live feeds of the security cameras surrounding the warehouse.

'Thanks Becca.' Grace said as she glanced at the security feeds. 'I guess I better start my job now huh?' She giggled. Rebecca gave Grace a quick hug.

'It's great having you back.'

Grace was now on her own for the time being. She changed the filter in the coffee machine and filled it up with fresh water and ground coffee she found in a small canister left out on the work top. It would take a few minutes to fill the jug so Grace took a quick walk to the bedroom where Ezio was still sleeping. He had slept pretty much all day. Grace was quite jealous of this she was lucky if she even got a decent night's sleep once every few weeks. She felt quite bad for him though, thinking about it he probably never got much sleep either so really even though he was a long long way away from his own time; she thought he deserved the rest. Thought it may be completely different when he woke up as he could possibly be even more lethargic from over-sleeping. She chuckled to herself when the thought popped in to her head that what Ezio may have right now was some form of time-travelling jet-lag. She shrugged off her giggling and made her way over to the bed she was sleeping in earlier. There was a small set of bedside drawers she had put her handgun in before she had her nap so she quickly retrieved it before leaving the room. She bumped in to Shaun on the way back to the kitchen; he was on his way to bed for the night. Grace high-five'd him as they passed each other.

Soon she was back in the kitchen, fixing her just brewed coffee with a few sugars and a good measure of milk before she sat down at the table. The clock on the wall stated it was just after midnight and it would be a good while before dawn broke. Grace would sit and fiddle with her guns, check the cameras, look out the window with her binoculars, gulp her coffee down, fiddle with her guns again, flick through the pages of a gossip magazine she found, check the cameras again, read through the pages of some recipe books someone had left, check the cameras again. It carried on for hours. It was edging toward twenty minutes to three in the morning when Grace was on her fourth mug of coffee and she heard shuffling out in the hallway outside the kitchen. Desmond walked in wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts. Grace's eyes nearly fell out of her head. She wanted to say something but she couldn't. It was either going to come out a garbled mess or she would probably lose her temper especially since she didn't like the tone Desmond was talking in before. He was now stood at the sink filling a glass with water from the tap. He downed the water and placed the glass in the sink. Grace acted non-chalant, almost as if he wasn't there as she concentrated on the security feeds on the monitor.

'I'm sorry I…' Desmond trailed off. Grace looked up at him as he tried speaking. 'I'm sorry I've been quite weird with you.'

Grace was slightly baffled at Desmond's sudden outburst but accepted his apology anyway. 'It's okay, no need to say you're sorry.'

'I've just… There's a lot going on right now I'm having a hard time accepting what's happening y'know?' Desmond said. Grace studied him further; he seemed a little exasperated whilst he was trying to talk to her. He did look an awful lot like Ezio, even down to the scar they both had. He was quite tall and muscular, a bit leaner than Ezio though.

'Listen, Desmond.' Grace put on her "I'm only going to say this once voice." 'I know you've been through a tough time recently but that's already happened, it's in the past. You're with us now and we're gonna do whatever we can to help. You're not alone in this, okay?'

Desmond just nodded.

'And I know that Ezio being her must be pretty strange and all especially for you, but we have to help him too.' Grace continued.

'What's he like really?' Desmond asked sounding genuinely curious.

'Oh exactly how you'd expect a good looking Italian who damn well knows it and likes chasing skirts to act.' Grace chuckled. 'He's harmless enough, well… yeah you know what I mean.'

'Sounds about right.' Desmond replied. He rubbed his eyes and yawned earning a stern look from Grace.

'Okay you I need you functioning if you want to train. Go get some sleep.' Grace commanded. Desmond wasn't going to argue with her he was quite tired now. He trudged his way back through the hallway after saying goodnight to Grace. She couldn't sleep right now, she had the hard job of monitoring the cameras.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys It's Deeny! :)**

**Here's the next chapter guys, sorry it's taken so long but I've been awfully busy recently. Oh well.**

**Thanks for the last chapter go to; ****Discofreak1029 for the comment, sounds like you're enjoying BTT! Thanks also go to artemis515 for the follow and Nerdman3000 for the fave and the follow! :)**

**Oh if there's anyone reading this now who also reads my other story Dusk; I'm working on the next chapter now so it should be up shortly. Please look forward to it. :)**

**Enjoy. :) xx**

**DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.**

* * *

'Good Morning Grace.'

'Oh! Good Morning Ezio! I take it you slept well?' Grace replied as she watched Ezio wander in to the kitchen. It was seven o'clock in the morning and soon everyone would be up and about. Grace decided to make some breakfast for everyone with whatever she could find in the kitchen. There was plenty of eggs and milk in the fridge and she found some flour in one of the cupboards; so she decided to make crepes and she could make an omelette or scrambled eggs if anyone wanted them. Ezio helped her out when he could; setting the kitchen table with the appropriate cutlery and crockery. Grace showed him how to operate the coffee machine; he would stare at it in wonder as the jug would fill with the dark liquid. Ezio had filled pitchers with fruit juice, laid cups out for the coffee and now he was helping Grace chop up various fruits for a fruit salad. Grace didn't think he would be the kind of man who would help out in the kitchen, but she wasn't complaining she was glad of the help. She would be sleeping this morning as soon as everyone had breakfast, ready for her next guard shift that evening and to also train Desmond later on. Right now she was tired after being up all night so for Grace; a bit of food and some sleep would do her good.

Rebecca's was the first to enter the kitchen, but then again she was always an early riser. She floated in to the kitchen with a big smile on her face in knowing that Grace was making breakfast.

'Morning guys" She exclaimed as she walked in. Ezio and Grace said their good mornings in reply to her. 'Please tell me you've made crepe batter Grace?'

'Of course I have!' Grace exclaimed. 'I take it you want some then?' She grinned.

Rebecca nodded. 'I haven't had crepes in ages. I see you've done fruit salad too.' She continued as she peered in to the fruit salad bowl on the kitchen counter.

'Help yourself Becca that's what it's there for. You too Ezio.' Said Grace. 'I'll do your crepes now , I've got some eggs here too if you want some scrambling or something.'

Ezio grabbed a dessert bowl he had laid out earlier and being a gentleman; he spooned some of the fruit salad in to the bowl and handed it to Rebecca who took it graciously. He then filled a bowl of his own and proceeded to sit at the table with Rebecca. They chatted away with each other whilst Grace began cooking their crepes. Soon after, Lucy and Shaun walked in and sat themselves down at the table; revelling in the smell of their breakfasts and enjoying every mouthful. Normally they would each do their own breakfast when they woke, which never usually consisted of more than a slice or two of toast. But it was a welcome change to have something cooked for them that was far more substantial. Desmond eventually surfaced and found himself sat at the kitchen table with a plate of real food in front of him. He ate slowly, obviously still half asleep. He looked rather bleary eyed like he had a restless night. Grace did remember that he was in bed before he trudged through in to the kitchen earlier that morning for water, then disappeared again. But Desmond did eventually appear to perk up a bit after he had eaten his breakfast.

Grace however was not doing so well at all. When everyone had left to go and continue with their work; Grace had started to feel the effects of not much sleep and staying up right the way through to the morning. Ezio insisted she go straight to bed and get some much needed rest.

'Are you sure? I don't want to leave you on your own.' Grace asked Ezio. He just scowled at her.

'Grace mia cara, you need to sleep. I can tidy all this away and take guard. I want to make myself useful while I'm here.' Ezio said as he grabbed her shoulders.

Ezio eventually managed to shoo Grace away insisting he would help out where he could so she could get some rest. He cleared all the breakfast items away and even washed the dishes; something he had never even done before. A little later on; he even made coffee for the rest of the group just like Grace had done the night before seeing as he now knew how to use the coffee machine. A while later Ezio went to check on Grace to see if she was definitely sleeping. She was in the bed she had claimed; hidden well under the covers only with her bare feet sticking out at the end. He wandered back in to the kitchen to find Shaun, Rebecca and Desmond sat at the table again eating their lunch. Rebecca motioned for Ezio to come and sit beside her as she then pointed to a plate on the table which had a sandwich on it she so kindly made for him. Shaun dominated the conversation between them all; asking Ezio questions about his time which in modern times was considered history. But Shaun was only interested in the stuff that never made the history books. And Ezio had all the good gossip from back then. But it wasn't long before everyone left to return to their work.

All except Desmond.

There was a slight silence between Ezio and Desmond but it was not hostile in the slightest; just difficult. Until Desmond broke the silence.

'So, Grace is the one who found you?' Desmond asked his ancestor as they cleared the table.

'Yes, yes she was. I was quite lucky that it was her that found me.' Ezio replied.

'She seems nice enough.' Desmond stated.

'She is. Grace has been my guardian angel since I got here. She showed me nothing but kindness, even after I did sort of… hold her at sword point.' Ezio said sounding slightly embarrassed. Desmond looked genuinely shocked when he said that.

'You're serious? You held her at sword point?' Desmond exclaimed.

'I thought I had been kidnapped. She brought me to her hotel room whilst I was unconscious and I awoke just when she had finished bathing.' Ezio said smirking slightly. Desmond knew that look as soon as he saw it. Ezio did like his women and in Desmond's mind he wasn't wrong in that sly smirk; Grace was quite easy on the eyes. He soon found himself smirking along with Ezio.

'So what is Grace like then, seeing as she's your guardian angel?' Desmond asked his ancestor. 'I mean, she is one of us.'

'She's been a master assassin for a while now. Though I haven't seen what she can do yet.' Ezio replied.

'Well she's offered to help train me so I guess we'll find out soon.' Said Desmond.

'She seems to know what she's doing.' Ezio reassured Desmond. 'I think you'll be in good hands.' He smirked again when he talked. Desmond knew he was subtly trying to imply something.

Desmond was soon back in the Animus for his afternoon session whilst Ezio was still on guard duty. Nothing much happened during the day, though there were a few birds that flew in front of the cameras outside. But it was relatively quiet other than that. No sign of any people at all on the outside. Ezio did go to check on Grace again to see if she was still sleeping. It was mid-afternoon now and Desmond would soon be finishing his Animus session so that would mean that Grace would most likely start his physical training when she woke. Grace was still in bed and had barely moved from the last time he went to check on her; her bare feet were still sticking out from under the covers. Eventually Ezio made his way back in to the kitchen and sat himself down in front of the security camera monitors. Nothing was happening. He watched the feed from the main gates in to the warehouse's yard for a bit only noticing the odd car or two going past on the road outside, which was nothing spectacular. It was getting quite late on in the afternoon now; just after quarter past four. Desmond had finished in the Animus for now and appeared in the kitchen; grabbing a glass and filling it with water before downing the whole thing in seconds.

'Ezio Grace is awake, she's downstairs right now.' Desmond said as he finished his glass of water. 'She wants us both down there now.'

Ezio perked up from his bored security camera watching stupor. He left the kitchen along with Desmond and made their way downstairs to find Grace laying out some crash-mats she had found stashed away in some corner of the warehouse.

'Good afternoon you two. I hope you're ready for this Desmond.' Grace said as she finished sorting out the mats.

'As ready as I'll ever be, I guess.' Desmond replied as he shrugged.

'Okay well, I know the Bleeding Effect is helping you but I want you to tell me what you think you may have problems with I dunno with combat or something.' Grace stated.

'Well,' Desmond started. 'I suppose I could do with some help with grappling. And guns.'

'That is no problem at all.' Grace grinned at Desmond and Ezio. 'This is gonna be interesting.'


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello my dears! Deeny here! :)**

**Well I've finally managed to type this all out. Honestly it's taken me FOREVER to do this chapter. I'm so sorry for making you all wait so long! :(**

**Shout outs for the last chapter go to CellophaneCatastrophy and Madeye Missy for the BTT follow and favourite! :) Thanks you two!**

**And if you have some spare time; please go check out my other AC story 'Dusk.' Thanks!**

**Enjoy. :) xx**

**DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.**

* * *

Ezio couldn't help but laugh at Desmond, who was being thrown about like a ragdoll by Grace. To say she was only small she was pretty strong. She had started teaching Desmond some basic throws and grapples. She would demonstrate what he had to do, sometimes getting Ezio involved as a sparring partner and throwing him down. They both showed Desmond how to counter should anyone try a throw on him and how to successfully turn their own energy around on them and use it to their advantage.

Grace had however noticed that Desmond seemed to be holding back on her for some reason. She did not like this in the slightest. When he sparred with Ezio on a few occasions he didn't exactly hold out but with her he did. Grace decided to let him in on a thing she was told by one of her instructors when she was younger.

'Desmond, are you afraid of hurting me?' She asked him. He looked slightly taken back when she asked him.

'What do you mean?' He asked in return looking confused at what she just asked.

'Well, you seem to be able to spar properly with Ezio but not me. Is it because I'm a woman?'

Desmond looked mortified. Generally it was seen as a bad thing when men hit women, whether it be serious or not. He did though admit to himself that he was holding himself back whenever he sparred with Grace.

'Desmond I want you to take this seriously, but let me tell you something first. Abstergo will hurt or kill you regardless of what your gender is. And whoever that bastard may be that comes for your or the rest us could be either male or female.' Grace said to him with a serious tone in her voice. Desmond just looked even more confused till grace continued. 'Now I'm not condoning you to go out and just hit women, but your life will be on the line as well as ours if you can't step up to take out whoever it is who's attacking. I was always told that I shouldn't expect compassion from a man just because I'm a woman. Even though you're a guy you shouldn't either but Abstergo have no compassion at all when it comes to us. They want us all dead.'

'I think I understand what you're saying' Desmond nodded.

'Good, right now I need your full cooperation. I want to train you properly Desmond and I can't do that if you're holding out on me and I can't see what you're capable of. It takes a lot to hurt me so do your worst.' Grace taunted him, begging him to attack her.

Ezio stood and watched the pair sparring, replaying what Grace had just said back in his mind. In his time; women never really got involved in the killing side of the Brotherhood they stuck to information gathering more than anything and the likes of the Courtesans were excellent in distraction. But Grace had a point, the Templars/Abstergo were relentless in their search for Assassins and killed mercilessly. Nobody was safe at the end of the day, women or children included.

Even so, when Grace had taunted Desmond to the point where he was going all out trying to hit her; he failed miserably. Grace was just too quick and skilled for him to even keep up. Every punch he threw she blocked or avoided. Every kick he tried to land failed and he usually ended up in some kind of choke hold or flat on his back on the ground. Desmond was soon gasping for air from all the physical exertion and was struggling to keep up.

'We're done here.' Grace announced looking rather sombre. The muscles in her arms and shoulders were protruding more than usual, showing exactly where her strength was coming from. 'Same time tomorrow.' She finished talking as she began walking back up to the loft. She looked clam and composed and had barely broken a sweat. Meanwhile Desmond was sat on the floor in awe as Grace walked off. Ezio stepped in and gave Desmond a hand up.

'What the hell is she?' Desmond exclaimed in between shallow breaths.

'I suppose you were just fighting with a modern day master assassin.' Ezio grinned at his descendant as he helped him up.

Desmond looked up toward the catwalk in to the loft where Grace was walking along. This tiny woman had just kicked his ass in more ways than one and hadn't even shown any signs of being breathless or tired or anything. She just took everything he threw at her and put him back in his place. She soon disappeared in to the loft.

Ezio had started putting the crash mats back in to their corner, Desmond helped him with the last few. The pair soon finished tidying everything away then made their way up in to the loft where there was some kind of aroma coming from the kitchen. Ezio walked in and took a seat at the table near the window and checked the security cameras. Desmond however grabbed a glass off the counter and filled it from the tap with cold water, like he always did whenever he entered the kitchen. Grace was still in her training gear and was cooking alongside Rebecca. They were chatting away and sharing a joke or two as they sliced up vegetables. This was about the only time it all seemed normal, when they could just relax and have a laugh and forget about their work for a short while. Everybody had eventually gathered around the dining table to enjoy their dinner albeit for a short time as everyone was eager to get back to work, even though the break was welcome.

Desmond was soon back in the Animus for a few hours whilst Lucy, Rebecca and Shaun went about their duties. Grace was covering the security cameras yet again that evening whilst Ezio went for a shower. He soon emerged and joined Grace back in the kitchen who was rolling a stray .50 calibre bullet around on the table. She was quite bored and had begun sighing again randomly along with rolling her eyes and fidgeting. She hadn't even showered yet. She decided she would go do that seeing as Ezio was here and he could cover her for ten minutes whilst she spruced herself up a bit. Grace liked being in the shower, mainly for the reason that it gave her the time just to think about things without any disturbance. She ended up thinking about Ezio and if there really was a way to return to his own time as he had been in the future for quite a while now. Surely this Piece of Eden that was suspected to have caused it all was still around.

Grace sighed yet again as she stepped out of the shower and dried herself with a fluffy white towel. If that one Piece of Eden was still around, then where was it? If Abstergo had their hands on it then it would be damn near impossible to retrieve it. Though all they could do at the moment was bide their time and see if anything popped up. Shaun was working his magic on that side of things and if anyone would be able to find out any information about it; then it was him.

It soon got late. Ezio had spent a few hours sat with Grace and Shaun asking them more questions about this and that. Mainly about things he had seen on television. Talk did switch to Abstergo for a while, but soon stopped when Grace had notice Ezio had started yawning and his eyes became heavy looking; so she ordered him to bed. Shaun stayed up for a short while talking to Grace about their situation.

'I've been chatting with William via e-mail recently, he's been keeping me updated on the other groups.' Shaun stated.

'I still find it weird that William is Desmond's father.' Grace shook her head looking slightly bemused.

'You're telling me. Though the way Lucy was talking to us about him she made it sound like he was the messiah.' Shaun continued with a slight chuckle.

'Has he been a naughty boy though?' Grace said whilst trying to keep a straight face. Shaun just laughed at her and her reference.

'Anyway I am off to bed. Early start in the morning I suppose.' Said Shaun as he stood from his seat. 'See you tomorrow.'

'Night Shaun.' Grace replied as she waved her friend off. She was on her own again with only the security camera footage as company. Another boring night on her own. Grace would pace up and down the kitchen for a bit, read some random book she plucked off one of the shelves, glance outside with her binoculars, check the cameras, then do it all over again in no particular order. Then she started rummaging about the kitchen. There were various vegetables in a box shoved in one of the cupboards. Noticing some were on the turn and would probably be going off within the next day or two; she decided to make some vegetable soup with them. At least then they wouldn't get wasted. It only took her about fifteen minutes to peel and chop up the vegetables and thrown them in a pan so she hadn't wasted as much time as she wanted to. She found herself sat at the table again glaring at the security camera feeds with the pan of soup simmering away in the background. Grace thought she could honestly sleep right at that moment she was that bored; but her sleepy train of thought was interrupted when Desmond shuffled in to the kitchen wearing nothing but his boxers. Grace averted her eyes back on to the monitors, sneakily trying to catch a glimpse when Desmond was filling his mandatory glass of water from the tap. Though he surprised her when he sat his glass down on the table and sat beside her instead of downing his water in front of the sink.

'Can't sleep?' Grace simply asked Desmond who shook his head in reply. Grace looked at the clock on the wall; it was nearly ten minutes past two in the morning.

'I've been having a hard time sleeping lately.' Desmond stated as his sipped his water.

'I'm not surprised in the slightest, what with everything that's happened to you recently. And the fact you've spent a lot of time in the Animus won't help either.' Grace said.

'You're right it's just… It's just.' Desmond paused. 'It's just so much to take in y'know? I thought that all this time my parents were conspiracy freaks but to finally know why I grew up the way I did and why… To find out it's all true…'

Desmond looked lost and confused. Just like a little boy. Grace wanted to hug him but decided not to. She thought it would be inappropriate, besides she barely knew the guy. She just put her hand on his arm as she spoke.

'I have seen your profile Desmond. I know how you grew up, and how you ran away years ago. You and I grew up pretty much in the same way.' Grace said. 'Being a child, a teenager then an adult in our situation never gets any easier in fact it gets worse as we get older. And I know it probably sounds really clichéd but you have us now. We're all part of the Brotherhood and we really are here for you if you need us for absolutely anything.' Grace had noticed she had begun squeezing Desmond's arm as she spoke. She quickly released him and rested her hand back on the table.

'I guess you're right.' Desmond said as he let out a sigh of relief.

'Try not to worry about it all too much. We're in this together yes?' Grace smiled at Desmond. He smiled back at her. She was hoping she had quelled some of his worries and doubts at least. She didn't mind listening to other people's problems, it made a change from thinking about her own all the time. Grace though had managed to shoo Desmond back to bed as soon as he finished drinking his water stated she needed him fighting fit later on. She glanced at the clock again; twenty minutes to three in the morning. Grace had ages to go before she could go sleep herself.

'Bugger.'


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys! It's Deeny! :)**

**Wow, somewhat of a long chapter for a change. I hope you all like it! Please fave, follow and comment if you'd like. I'd love to hear from you all. **

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**And if you all have some spare time; please go check out my other AC story 'Dusk.' Thanks!**

**Enjoy. :) xx**

**DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.**

* * *

'Ah I just love having a nice breakfast being prepared for me in the morning!' Rebecca exclaimed as she walked in to the kitchen. Grace had been cooking again that morning and was now whisking up some eggs for making omelettes and scrambled eggs. She started helping out by putting bread on for toasting and by turning on the coffee machine. Everybody else would be up soon and it wasn't long before they were joined by Ezio.

'Buongiorno ladies.' Ezio purred as he sauntered in to the kitchen.

'Good morning Ezio!' Grance and Rebecca replied in near unison, they both chuckled a bit when they realised what had happened. Ezio rested his hand on Grace's shoulder and peered over to see what she was doing. She had a pan out and was now busy moving the beaten eggs around it.

'Scrambled or omelette Ezio?' She asked him. She nearly jumped as she turned her head to talk to him as he was rather close, but she didn't mind. She doubted Ezio would try to jump her bones any time soon but still, she didn't mind how close he was to her physically. They were sort of close in a touchy-feely kind of way but she suspected they both knew it wouldn't really go anywhere. Which she felt relieved about especially seeing as he was from the past. They were more like friends who would playfully punch each other and link arms occasionally. In short; Ezio and Grace had mutually friendzoned each other without saying or doing anything. _Desmond on the other hand though… _Grace would think. _We're both Assassins AND in the same time. Yeah…_

Eventually; Shaun, Lucy and Desmond had woken and planted themselves at the kitchen table, eating the fare Grace had prepared for them. She made herself eat a few slices of toast with marmalade on before she went to her bed for some well-deserved sleep. Ezio took over watch again that day whilst Grace was sleeping and the others were busy working. He cleared away all the things they used at breakfast, washed up and put everything back where it belonged before he sat himself down at the table to glare at the monitors. He wondered how Grace could do this in an evening. At least during the day some critters would be on camera like birds and sometime even the odd cat or two would wander around the yard but at night; everything went somewhere else and provided nothing interesting for the evening.

Ezio however kept himself occupied by reading one of the many books that were left in the kitchen, or every so often he would make coffee for the others. At lunchtime he helped Rebecca dish out the soup that Grace had made the night before then he cleared everything away from that. He did whatever he could to keep himself occupied in between keeping an eye out on the camera feeds. Nothing was happening so there really wasn't much to do. This happened day in-day out and it really was getting rather boring especially for Ezio and Grace. Whilst sometimes they would want a little bit of excitement, at this moment in time they were as safe as they could be; which really overruled everything else. So long as they stayed safe, they had to put up with the boredom that went with it.

Later on when Desmond had finished his afternoon Animus session; Ezio had started to help out Rebecca with the evening meal. Grace had eventually been woken by Desmond which took him a while as she was quite a deep sleeper. In the end he had noticed that her blankets were pulled up over her head and her lower legs and bare feet were exposed; so he just ran his fingers up and down the sole of her foot. He wasn't expecting a reaction really as he'd tried shaking her awake and calling her name and got nothing but he nearly got kicked in the face when he tickled her feet. Grace did eventually rise from her bed and simply put on a pair of shoes stating she was ready to train. She had been asleep in a black vest top and a pair of cropped black exercise leggings and obviously couldn't be bothered getting changed before she slept or right now for that matter. She decided that they should get to training right away and she could have a mug of coffee later on. Grace however popped her head in to the kitchen to mention that she and Desmond were going to train a bit before they ate. She smiled at Ezio who was stood at the worktop, busying himself by peeling and chopping vegetables. He waved back in reply when he noticed her.

'So Desmond, how are you at free-running?' She asked as the pair walked down in to the warehouse.

'Okay I suppose, what with the bleeding effect an all. I haven't had much physical practice though.' He replied.

'Well, why don't we do that now. Fancy a race?' Grace said with a slight grin. Almost confident in the fact that she would most likely win against him.

'Sure.' Desmond accepted the challenge. 'You got a route planned?' He continued.

Grace looked around the warehouse. It was fairly big in here and there were several stacks of large metal containers and a few catwalks up at the top of the building. She scanned the warehouse quickly before deciding a route.

'Right, so if we start here, clear those crates over in that corner then along the catwalk round to those ceiling beams, then down on to the ground, over those metal containers then find a way up to that second catwalk up in that corner, over the other side and back down to finish at the forklift over there.'

Grace had made a route so quick even after only a few seconds. Desmond listened carefully and watched as Grace pointed her finger at where she was talking about.

'Okay, ready?' Grace asked as she prepared herself.

'As I'll ever be.' Desmond replied as he crouched down slightly, ready to sprint.

'Three… two… one… GO!' Grace shouted.

Of course Desmond pulled out in front first he was a guy. Men are naturally more stronger than women so of course he ended up out in front that's how it always went. But Grace was not one to let a man beat her in anything. Taking advantage of her lighter frame and the fact she was more experienced; she soon found herself level with Desmond. He had slipped a few times trying to scale the first set of crates and found himself fractions of a second behind Grace who was now sprinting along the catwalk ready to navigate the ceiling beams. But still, Desmond wasn't giving up so easily. He flung himself down the catwalk and bounded on to the ceiling beams; nearly losing his balance on one of them which set him back even further from Grace. Planning on how he would get down on to the ground from the beams, he glanced at Grace for a second to see which route she was taking down. Desmond decided to climb down some stacked up containers that were within jumping distance from the last beam he was about to land on. In the time it had taken him to work that out, Grace had already launched herself at a steel roof support pole and slid down it quickly with ease as if she was sliding down a ladder; her hands and the sides of her feet squeaking as they grasped the pole. Desmond had barely started dropping down from the containers when Grace let go of the pole a few metres from the ground and dashed off as soon as her feet hit the floor. She was already climbing the last set of containers and was nearly at the top by the time Desmond had even made his way over. She was fluid in motion, taking every single obstacle in her stride and conquering it with ease; Grace was in fact Graceful. She was sprinting again; Desmond could barely hear her feet on the catwalk she was running down. It was almost like she was running on air, going so fast she didn't even need to make contact with the catwalk. She barely made a sound as she moved, unlike Desmond who was loud; the pounding of his feet and heavy breathing echoing around the warehouse.

Desmond had well and truly lost. Grace had already slid down the ladder at the end of the catwalk and was now making her way over to the finish line forklift truck by the time Desmond had clambered up on to the catwalk. He glanced down at her as she ducked in to the forklift and sat down in its seat. She could only smile at Desmond as she watched him jogging over after dismounting the ladder.

'Well that was fun.' Grace said as Desmond stopped in front of her and leant over with his hands resting on his knees as he attempted to get his breath back. He glanced up at Grace noticing she had barely broken a sweat.

'How the… how the hell did you, do that?' Desmond heaved in between taking big lungful's of air.

'Simple Desmond. I've been doing it a long time. I have the stamina for free running which is something you're lacking I'm afraid.'

_She cut straight to the point with that one. _Desmond thought. She was right though.

'This is why you need to train more physically. It's fair in saying that the Bleeding Effect will teach you the techniques but you will always be faced with varying situations and it's you who needs to adapt to it.' Grace stated.

'Well practice makes perfect.' Desmond chuckled as he stood up straight having regained his breath.

'Exactly Desmond. Which reminds me…' Grace started as she hopped out of the forklift truck and shuffled over to Desmond. 'We need to practice your fighting more. Come on lets go.'

Desmond nearly let out a sigh of annoyance but managed to keep it in knowing Grace would probably work him stupid. He helped her lay out some crash mats before they began sparring with each other. Desmond fought more like a brawler, almost like a street fighter whilst Grace who was obviously very well trained showed moves belonging to various martial arts. She could brawl too, but with the addition of a few real moves it got the job done. She would stop sometimes and give him hints and pointers.

'So you can use momentum to your advantage. When you're striking it can put a lot more force in to your attack. When somebody else is trying to do that to you, you can use it against them.'

'I think I understand.' Desmond said as Grace gave him a demonstration.

'If you're propelling yourself toward someone and land the hit it will hurt them much more than hitting them normally. Does that make any sense?' Grace asked. Desmond nodded in reply. 'And when somebody is charging toward you, you can use the force they're expelling against them. For example, moving out of the way slightly and clothes-lining an attacker running at you. They would be flat on their back in seconds.' Grace giggled as she finished talking.

'So I guess getting someone on the ground is more advantageous when you want them out of the way quickly?' Desmond questioned.

'Exactly. I think you got it.' Grace replied. 'Now, throws. Show me what you remember from yesterday.

Desmond took a deep breath before he lunged at Grace trying to do a simple Judo style throw on her. Of course it didn't work she just dodged out of the way and demanded he try again. He tried a few times, even changing the style of throw to another she showed him yesterday but still she avoided every single time. It wasn't until Desmond eventually realised that she had a weakness.

Grace was a short woman.

Remembering what she had told him yesterday, Desmond decided to use that to his advantage. While Grace was at the peak of physical training and was a lot stronger than most women; she still was one herself and was significantly shorter than himself. It was a slightly sexist way of thinking, but like Grace had told him the day before; Abstergo could send anyone after them. He figured exploiting certain weaknesses could be the key.

Desmond went in high making Grace react in a way that made her slightly vulnerable for a second. Desmond feinted that he was about to land his fists on her head and as Grace countered by reaching her arms up to stop him; he swiftly batted them away and tackled her to the ground; the crash mat absorbing most of the force and weight as they both landed. Desmond had finally managed to knock her down albeit in a dirty way but he managed it. He straddled her and restrained her arms from hitting him, locking them down with his hands. Grace stared back up at the heavily breathing Desmond with wide, shocked eyes. He'd finally done it. _Quick learner. _She thought. _And heavy. Why isn't he moving? Why is he looking at me funny?_

Desmond was still straddling her. Grace's shocked look now turned to something between confused and deep thought as a sly grin had formed on Desmond's lips. She'd seen that grin before, it belonged to Ezio. _Oh great is HE a Casanova too or is he just happy he finally got the one up on me? _Grace wondered. She let out a slight breath as Desmond eventually clambered off her and lowered his hand to help her up. She took his hand and allowed him to pull her up.

'I didn't hurt you did I?' Desmond asked Grace as she smoothed out the creases in her clothing.

'No no I'm fine.' She started. 'Just a big of a bruised ego.' She chuckled. 'I suppose you get where I'm coming from now.'

'I do, it's making sense.' Desmond smiled at her.

Grace could've melted at Desmond's smile. It was exactly like Ezio's. She was really beginning to like this guy now, especially seeing as he appeared to be warming to her. He helped her put the crash mats away before they headed back up to the loft.

'Come on let's get a drink or something, I could do with a beer.' Desmond said to Grace as he walked alongside her.

'I could too, I need something to numb up with before tonight's security watch it's positively thrilling.' Grace muttered as she rolled her eyes at her remark. Desmond just laughed.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey sweeties! Deeny here! :)**

**Shout outs for the last chapter go to ****kodokuna 13 for the follow and Greywarden123 for the follows and faves! I appreciate it, thanks!**

**Also, if you haven't noticed already I have another story up, a Resident Evil one named "Something Wicked." Please go have a read of it and let me know what you think, I'd love to hear from you. And don't forget Dusk too!**

**Enjoy. –Deeny :) xx**

**DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.**

Grace was sat in her usual position at the table in the kitchen, watching the security camera feeds. She wasn't really paying attention to anything and was on the verge of dozing off from boredom; but she was soon brought back to reality when she heard her phone beep. She reached over the table and grabbed her phone, touching the screen to bring up her e-mails.

'The hell is this?' Grace muttered to herself as she read the e-mail. 'Eru…di…to. Hmm?'

Grace carried on reading the rest of the e-mail. It was written quite whimsically, as if whoever wrote it had a real way with words.

'Even anomalies need to be corrected, and you have an incredibly valuable one in your midst. I know what you're looking for. Think home. Think high security. Think R&D. Think the _Living Force.'_

Grace pondered about Erudito's strange riddle. Then pondered if she should tell the others she had received this. Obviously this Erudito character knew about Ezio and he also knew that they were thinking about a Piece of Eden. But how? That is what Grace couldn't figure out. With all the secrecy and the being overly cautious all the time, how the hell did this guy manage to find out?

Grace decided she wasn't going to tell the others until she could do some research of her own or at least until Shaun come up with anything. She pondered about the riddle for a little while longer before she got bored and her head started to hurt from thinking too much. To take her mind off everything and to ease the boredom; Grace found a puzzle book that was among a pile of magazines on the kitchen worktop. She found a pen, skipped through nearly half a dozen pages of Sudoku puzzles before she found the crosswords and frantically began filling them out. It passed a bit of time but not much, she had filled out around eight of the crosswords and had begun working on the ninth when she looked at the clock on the wall. It read ten minutes to two in the morning. Sighing, Grace got to work on her next crossword. Her train of thought was soon interrupted when a half-naked Desmond shuffled in to the kitchen and got his usual glass of water. He sat in the spare seat next to Grace and started yawning.

'Not sleeping well?' Grace asked him as she looked up from her crossword and put her pen down.

'You could say that.' Desmond replied whilst yawning.

'Well, I have the perfect sleep aid.' Grace said as she rose out of her chair. She walked over to a cabinet on the back kitchen wall and opened the door, smiling when she saw what she was looking for. She reached in and pulled out two short glasses and a bottle of bourbon. She laid the two glasses down on the table and unscrewed the cap on the bourbon bottle, pouring healthy measures in to the glasses. She handed one to Desmond and picked up one for herself.

'Chin chin.' She giggled as she lifted her glass to Desmond's. The glasses clinked together.

The two sat together for a while and chatted about this and that. Desmond told Grace about his time growing up and how he ran away as soon as he got the chance. He even talked more about his time at Abstergo and how Lucy managed to get him out of there. Desmond told Grace about Altair and how he was reliving his memories whilst he was in Abstergo's hands and now he was living Ezio's memories during his Animus sessions now.

'Is it not a bit trippy for you? Y'know, seeing as Ezio is actually here in this time?' Grace asked him as she sipped her bourbon.

'I guess it is. Well, I suppose I've got used to the idea now.' Desmond said as he stared in to his glass before taking a sip, he glanced back up at Grace. 'Have you ever been in the Animus?' He asked Grace.

'Once, when Rebecca first built the two-point-oh a good while back. I helped her test it out.' Grace replied drinking more of her bourbon.

'So did you find out anything interesting?' Desmond asked. Surely he wasn't the only related to Assassins.

'Well besides finding out that several hundreds of years ago many of my ancestors in Ireland covered themselves in paint and shouted a lot; I found out that I may be a descendant of Iltani.' Grace grinned. Desmond just looked confused.

'Il… tani?' He questioned.

'A Babylonian Assassin from ages ago. She assassinated Alexander the Great.' Grace stated, almost showing the fact she was slightly smug about it. Though in truth Grace only got a few minutes worth of Iltani's memories as Iltani was around well Before Christ and her blood coursing through Grace's veins was heavily diluted.

'Wow that's pretty awesome.' Desmond said.

'I guess, but you've got all the good stuff in you. Descended from Ezio AND Altair. Now that is pretty awesome.' Grace smiled. 'But I can see why Abstergo wanted you all to themselves.'

'Yeah I never knew it, but I got a lot of information inside my head.' Desmond chuckled as he tapped his temple lightly with his finger.

The two shared silence together for a few moments. Grace downed the remaining bourbon in her glass and reached for the bottle.

'Top up?' She asked Desmond as she unscrewed the cap.

'No I'm good thanks. I should probably be heading back to bed soon. I'll get shouted at if I don't get up for my morning Animus session.' Desmond mumbled as he rolled his eyes.

'Lucy cracking the whip is she?' Grace giggled as she refilled her own glass with more bourbon then screwed the cap back on the bottle.

'Haha she's not that bad really. Though I really did get thrown in at the deep end with all this so it's all new to me. All I did before was keep myself to myself and serve overpriced drinks.'

Grace downed the bourbon in her glass again. And went to grab Desmond's glass off the table seeing as he was finished with it.

'It's okay I'll get those.' Desmond stated as he stood up out of his seat. Grace did the same.

'Don't worry I'll get them' She said as stood up.

Everything slowed down for Grace. She and Desmond stood up at the exact same time, nearly nudging each other back as they bumped together. It would have happened if Desmond didn't clasp his hand around Grace's shoulder and if Grace didn't rest her free hand on Desmond's bare chest.

The two stared at each other for a second before they looked away and apologized quietly to each other. Grace shuffled over to the kitchen sink and placed the two glasses in to the sink.

'I'm off to err, bed now. I'll see you tomorrow.' Desmond stuttered as he made his way for the door.

'Goodnight Desmond.' Grace called after him.

Grace leaned against the kitchen worktop and stared at her hand. Even after only a brief few seconds of it being in contact with Desmond's skin; she could still feel the warmth emitting from him. She sighed and shook her head, deciding now was a good time for coffee, and lots of it. She felt a lot more chilled out from the bourbon but she needed to wake up and drag herself out of a potential developing day dream. She topped the coffee machine up with water and changed the filter and coffee grounds; waiting for the magical black substance to appear in the jug. It was going to be another long night.

Grace was glad though that Desmond really had started opening up to her. She liked talking to him, especially during the random times he had woken up in the night and she was bored to tears. Nobody else was around then either so really it was just the pair of them chatting. Though being a red blooded woman she could also appreciate the fact that Desmond would usually wander through in to the kitchen not wearing that much at all; at some mad time when everybody else was asleep.

_Oh if something were to happen. _Grace thought with a grin. _No no! NO GRACE! Stop thinking about that, go get your coffee._

Sure enough, Grace's internal voice was right. The coffee was ready.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey darlings! It's Deeny! :)**

**Shout outs for the last chapter go to Skytail, ****12174le1 and Supernatural4life. Thanks for the faves, follows and comments guys! :)**

**Oh, and if you have the time folks, I have two other stories. Another AC story by the name of Dusk. And a Resident Evil story called Something Wicked. Please have a read of them and get in touch! I'd love to know what you think!**

**So this is just a short one, tide you all over till the next proper chapter. WARNING! It is a bit filthy. ;)**

**Enjoy. –Deeny :) xx**

**DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed and its characters are owned by Ubisoft. Original Characters are of my own creation.**

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Sure enough, Grace's internal voice was right. The coffee was ready. It had been for a while now. She quickly downed a mug of the hot beverage hoping it would help keep her a bit more alert than she had been that evening. Then the thought occurred to her that she was becoming immune to it. That may very well have been then case, a short while after she didn't feel any different at all. She could feel her head bobbing about and her eyelids feeling heavy. Grace would jerk back to consciousness when her head bobbed down that far that her chin would hit the top of her chest. She stood up out of her chair, hoping a walk around the loft would wake her up a bit. She checked in the makeshift bedroom where everyone slept, except nobody was there. Grace checked again just to be sure that her tired eyes weren't playing any tricks on her but they were right the first time. All the individual beds were still made and nobody was asleep in them. Thinking it was rather odd considering what time it was in the morning; Grace wandered through to the loft's main room where she was greeted by the sound of computers humming and the twinkling lights on the servers. She crept over to the bed in the corner where Desmond usually slept, but he was nowhere to be found. She was all on her own. The clock on the wall read ten minutes past 5; normally everyone except herself would still be in bed at that time.

'What the hell is going on?' Grace mumbled to herself. Then she heard a footstep. Her eyes widened as she started to spin round to see who was behind her but fell short as a large hand covered her mouth and a strong arm wrapped around her torso, trapping her arms in the process. She struggled and tried to shout through the hand covering her mouth but eased off when she heard a smooth whisper in her ear.

'Shhh bella.'

It was Ezio. He gently released Grace from his grip. She just spun round and glared at him, attempting to keep her eyes looking directly in to his which proved rather difficult as he was only wearing underwear.

'Ezio what the hell do you think you're playing at I was scared shitless!" Grace exclaimed. Ezio looked at her with a grin on his face and advanced toward the babbling woman with her furrowed brow and vicious words. He just grabbed Grace's arms and yanked her toward him, bringing her in to a ferocious kiss. It soon shut her up. Grace tried to pull away but Ezio was having none of it. She eventually gave in; relishing the moment as she surrendered herself to him. Ezio wanted to be in control, his grip on Grace was proof enough of that. But soon he had pushed her on to the bed and had begun stripping Grace of her clothing. She had no say in the matter at all but thought that it was for the best as she was getting increasingly turned on by Ezio's actions. He tugged and pulled at her clothes till everything she was wearing was littered across the floor before finally letting himself become naked. He hovered over Grace like a bird of prey waiting to swoop down and claim its prize.

Ezio kissed, kneaded and caressed every inch of her body and spoke Italian to Grace every time she gasped or squeaked at his touch. She couldn't understand a word of what he was saying and was having a hard time concentrating on anything as she could feel herself getting wet from Ezio's hardening member that was grazing her thighs. It was making her impatient. Grace pushed her palm flat against his chest.

'Don't tease me, Ezio.' She said as she looked up at him with doll like eyes and biting her lip. How could he deny her? It was all worth it as he heard a yelp of ecstasy as he pushed himself in to Grace. She bucked her hips in time with his steady rhythm, the two gasping and panting spurred each other on. Ezio even more so as he would peer down at Grace with her eyes fluttering shut, biting her lip in between gasps and her breasts shaking along with the rhythm of Ezio's steady thrusting.

The sweat was pouring off them. Grace was clutching on to Ezio's arms as she neared climax, digging her nails in to his flesh which were sure to leave marks. Her body almost collapsed with a sigh of relief as the pleasure she was experiencing washed over her entire body. She glanced at Ezio's face as his release came. He brought himself down to her, their body's touching as he held himself up with one arm and traced the outline of Grace's face with his free hand. He smiled at Grace, his face a few inches away from hers before he trapped her lips with his own.

'Grace, GRACE! You sound like you're choking.'

'Whaaa?' Grace found herself in the kitchen, scanning the room with her one partially open eye to find Shaun staring at her with a mug of coffee in his hand. She wiped her chin with the back of her and only to cover herself in drool. It was all a dream.


End file.
